World Window
by rene3037769
Summary: Completely AU and Non-Cannon. The Order of the Phoenix is meeting at Hogwarts in order to find a safe place to stay during the summer when Jamie Potter runs into the Great Hall to tell the adults about a ghostly battle taking place outside. The Order finds themselves looking though a window at a world that runs parallel to their own and are not prepared for what happens.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This story is completely AU and Non-Cannon. As of right now the rating is M because there will be some mature themes. The summary for the story may change as the story progresses. This is a little bit Dark, but not terribly so.

I hope you enjoy the story.

Happy Reading

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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

{Parseltongue}

Lily Potter sighed as she shifted on the bench at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall within Hogwarts. She could not remember them ever having been this uncomfortable while she was still in school. James began rubbing her back as he noticed that she was sifting restlessly. They had been sitting with some of the other parents from the Order of the Phoenix so that they could decide where they could all house their children for the rest of the summer safely. None of them wanted to trust their safety to the wards that they had on their homes. They had simply lost too much to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his followers and the attacks had been coming more frequently since the beginning of summer.

Lily sighed as she listened to the different arguments around the table. Narcissa and Lucius felt that they should all move into one of the larger manors owned by the members of the order and place the property under the Fidelius Charm. Sirius and Severus were both in agreement that it was a horrible plan since that plan had failed spectacularly before.

They were trying desperately to rebuild what they had lost, but they had lost so much when the Death Eaters had begun to attack their children in the attempt to destroy the families of the Light. Now they were desperately trying to find a way to keep the children they still had left safe.

Lily blinked away the tears that were threatening to escape so that the others would not realize where her thoughts were. Looking around, she realized that almost everyone that had children at the table had already lost a child. Lucius and Narcissa had lost their little girl, Julianna, when she was just nine years old. Xenophilius lost his wife and their eldest daughter Luna, last year and the poor man had never been the same since. His youngest daughter Phoebe was the only reason that the man continued on.

The Weasleys had lost Ginevra, Percy and the twins when Hogsmeade had been attacked. Percy had tried to save his sister and been cut down by an unknown Death Eater while the twins had been killed trying to help some third years get out of the spell range of the Death Eaters. Alice and Frank had lost Neville at the same time they had lost Harry; they had been the first children to die in a senseless war waged by a madman.

Though the ranks of the Order had not been decimated, they felt that they were next to useless in keeping their children safe. Many of the women would feel guilty that they were not able to do more for the muggle-born children that had gone missing or had been killed, but they understood that they were struggling to keep their own children alive.

They only had an average of twenty students coming into Hogwarts each year, now when they had been having more than a hundred each year before the children had become targets. If they did not make headway soon, the magical community of Britain would be completely decimated. Even now, Lily wondered if it was worth it to keep fighting. Most of the families that had made up the magical community found themselves without heirs to carry on their family legacy.

Albus entered the room and stood at the head of the table. He listened to each of the arguments that were being put forth by the parents and Order members before he raised his hands for silence. "I think for the rest of this summer, we should just have everyone stay here at Hogwarts. There is nowhere that has the wards that the school has. We will still have to be careful, but I think that it is for the best."

"Will it cause you problems to house us here over the summer Albus?" Kingsley asked.

"No, I will tell the ministry that the adults are staying to overhaul the curriculum and that your families are staying with you because you will be a part of the staff of Hogwarts." Dumbledore's explanation was cut short as Jamie Potter burst into the Great Hall.

"You have to come quick. Draco and Ron were fighting and their spells collided making a huge flash of light and then people started appearing like ghosts. There is some kind of crazy ghost battle happening on the front lawn." Jamie finished yelling while staring at the stunned adults in the room as though wondering why they were not moving.

The adults moved all at once as they pushed away from the table, rushed out of the Great Hall and through the front doors to stand in shock on the front steps of Hogwarts. Jamie squeezed between his parents as he looked out at the front lawn with wide eyes.

There was indeed, a battle taking place on the grounds of Hogwarts. Flashes of light bursts from wands as people rushed around while dodging spells and fighting the most violent and largest battles any of the adults had ever seen. They watched as spells flew from wands at a rate that most of them would not be able to match on their best days.

Lily startled as she heard Xeno exclaim from his place beside her. "Luna!" She thought that the poor man had finally lost it and grabbed his arm to keep him from running off when she too caught sight of the blond girl that had her friend's attention. Watching the girl as she spun around the battlefield while casting spells, she could not believe what she was seeing. There in the battle was Luna Lovegood, a Luna Lovegood that was cutting down Death Eaters left and right.

Arthur caught Molly as she caught sight of Ginny rushing past to fight alongside Luna against three masked Death Eaters at once. Ron stood beside Bill and Charley as he pointed and yelled out in shock. "Is that Percy?"

Soon the adults were picking out faces of children that they recognized in the battle. The ghostly figures all looked like this was not the first fight they had seen and they fought with a skill and ferociousness that they had never witnessed before.

"What is this Albus?" Severus was looking at the battle in front of him with horror. Most of the people that were fighting were clearly children; In fact, looking around, Severus could not see one adult that was not a Death Eater.

"I have no idea." Albus muttered as he looked around. He ignored the looks that he received from the adults that looked to him for answers for almost all difficult questions. He had never answered with 'I don't know' before. He quickly approached Ron and Draco, who were standing off to the side of the steps near the elder Weasleys while watching the fighting with wide eyes. "Can you tell me what you did and said when you were fighting? Did anything usual happen?"

"You mean besides this appearing?" Draco asked incredulously as he waved his hand about in a very un-Slytherin manner.

Ron never took his eyes off of the fighting as he spoke. "We were fighting like we always do. I think the spells that hit each other were a boil curse and tickling charm; nothing that we haven't used before. Draco said something right before about me not being someone that would ever take a spell for him or something. That is all that happened before the figures started to flicker in and out before staying and playing like that memory you let us see last year." Ron looked up at the Headmaster to make sure that he remembered the Pensieve memory he had shown them.

Albus nodded. It was very much like watching a Pensieve. He turned back towards the fighting and instinctively flinched as a green spell went right through him without any warning. He felt nothing as the spell passed through his body, but could not help patting his chest to make sure that there was no damage done. He could not help but sigh in relief when he realized that the spells flying around could not hurt them. Looking around and seeing that the entirety of the grounds was covered with the figures locked in battle, he sucked in a deep breath as a thought occurred to him. "It's just not possible." He whispered.

Lucius heard his comment and immediately asked for an explanation. "What is not possible?" His inquiry had the rest of the adults looking at the Headmaster for an answer.

"There is a myth that some of the elder scholars have debated since the time of Merlin, that magic could literally rip a hole between worlds so that you could see what was happening in a world that ran parallel to your own. If I did not know better, I would say that this is what we were looking at. It just is not possible though."

"Why do you think it is not?" Alastor Moody asked as he watched teenagers cast and dodge spells better than the majority of his Aurors could. "And what could it be if it is not?

"Those windows are supposedly no bigger than a hand held mirror. The only accounting I have ever read of it happening was with Merlin; he was the only one that had the power to hold such a window open for any length of time, no one since has had that kind of power. That is why he is referred to as a Mage instead of a Wizard. This is larger than any account of a window opened by Merlin and I have no idea what could be powering it if it is a tear into another world."

"Could it be the battle itself?" Frank asked as he watched an array of colorful spells pass by him. The spells seemed to be the only thing that showed up as full color from their viewpoint. Everything else seemed to be dull, but not completely grey. It looked like he was looking at a very old photograph; sepia is what he thought Alice called it.

"No. It would have to be powered by the will of one person and one person only. I have tried with the information I could find as have the other scholars that have studied the myth, and none of us could manage even a small window. That is why it is thought that Merlin was the only one that held enough power that would have been able to cause and hold a tear." The admission that he would not have been able to power even a small tear caused a lot of eyes to widen. It was a well-known fact that Albus was one of the most powerful wizards alive since Merlin.

"Hey, that's me!" Ron yelled as he pointed to a boy who looked like him. The other Ron had a large scar cutting across his cheek and he was running across the battlefield while firing spells as he ran. He soon reached a Death Eater that was on the ground facing away from the group watching the battle. Every one watched in shock as the other Ron pulled the Death Eater up by a handful of long blond hair.

The group's expressions turned from shock to horror as the Death Eater ripped of his mask off to snarl at the red headed boy. Lucius collapsed onto the step he was standing on as his face was reviled once the mask was removed; he began to cry, unable to maintain his stoic mask, as he watched another version of his son pick himself off of the ground where his other-self had been kneeling only moments before. From the way the other version of his son was rubbing his neck, it was clear that the other Lucius was going to kill his own son with his bare hands. Soon both the other Draco and Ron were fighting side by side against the other Lucius.

No one spoke as they watched as deadly spells were traded between the Death Eater and the two boys. Lucius and Narcissa watched in horror as the other Lucius shot the Killing Curse at his son. When the other Ron stepped into the path of the curse and fell to the ground with sightless eyes, Molly began to cry in Author's arms. None of the children watching could think of anything to say about what they were seeing. Jamie Potter was holding onto his dad's hand tight enough that his knuckles were turning white. He had never seen anyone die.

"Tell me this is not real, Albus." Severus begged as he watched another version of his Godson continue to fight his father over the dead body of Ron Weasley.

"I am afraid I cannot, my boy."

Draco vomited as he saw his other self cast a cutting curse at his father, cleanly decapitating him. He would never be able to forget seeing his other self stand in the midst of a battle as he watched his father fall by his own wand. Draco held tight as his parents wrapped their arms around their son, offering as much comfort to each other as they could. The other Draco looked at his father for a moment before grabbing the wands of his father and Ron before rushing off to continue to fight.

"Why did he take the wands?" Ron asked in confusion. No one had an answer to his question. Their confusion grew as they watched Draco hand his father's wand off to another teenager without stopping his momentum through the battlefield. They could not hear anything from the other world, but soon realized that Draco was screaming at a bushy haired girl as he ran.

When he finally got the girls attention, he pointed off in the distance. The group watching the battle followed the girls gaze as she looked over the top of the forest at what looked like a swirling black cloud churning in the distance." The adults paled as they realized what they were. Dementors. It looked like the cloud of Dementors would reach the school within the hour.

As they continued to watch the forest, they noticed that there was a lot of movement in the darkness between the trees. "What is that? Is there something moving in there?" Alice was joined as she stepped off of the steps so that she could try to see the forest better. Gasps were heard from both the adults and the gathered teens as giants, werewolves and huge spiders swarmed out of the forest and into the battle.

"Great Merlin." Sirius said as the battle became even more vicious.

Alastor was quick to point out how well the teens were fighting. It did not even seem to faze them as they began to cast spells at the creatures that were now fighting. "I don't know where they learned to fight, but they are better than most of my Aurors. I would say that they are better than the Hit Wizards. Look, they are not shooting stunning spells; they are making sure that the Death Eaters stay down. it looks like they are all picking up wands from the fallen, and I still have not seen an adult that is not a Death Eater." He watched as a girl with long blond hair pulled back in a braid tried casting a spell with a Death Eater's wand before trading it with one of the Weasley twins. Neither of them seemed to speak a word or stop casting spells with their own wands as they tried the wands they had picked up and traded.

"Look!" Draco yelled. He was pointing at the girl his other self had been yelling at earlier. The group watched as she turned and crossed her arms in front of her face as a werewolf jumped in her direction, there was no time for her to do anything else as the werewolf was already in the air. They all winced as they expected to see the girl torn to shreds, only to gasp as the girl was picked up in one hand by a giant that had come up behind her. The giant put the girl back on the ground softly before it turned and tore the werewolf apart with its bare hands. The bushy haired girl just started to fight with another Death Eater as though she had not just been moved around like a doll by a giant.

"That girl is friends with a giant!" Jamie was looking at the girl in amazement. He looked around when no one said anything and found that everyone looked as though they could not believe what they had just seen and were simply too shocked to respond to his comment.

They started wondering around to see if they would recognize anyone else fighting. Most were hoping to find some adults on the teen's side of the fight. They had already seen spells pass through their bodies and decided that they no longer wanted to stay on the steps leading into Hogwarts.

Tears were rolling down almost every face of the ones that were watching the battle. The only ones that had dry faces were the ones that were just too stunned by what they were seeing. Albus, Severus, and Alastor were among the dry eyed.

"Remus, Look!" James yelled as he watched a large boy he recognized as a Slytherin run past and lock arms with a man he recognized as Fenrir Greyback. The other two marauders joined James and Lily as they watched the Slytherin tear into the werewolf that had turned Remus as a child. It was obvious that the boy was also a werewolf as they watched him fight the most vicious werewolf in Britain. The blood that was flying thought the air with each blow between the werewolves was horrifying. Remus watched as the boy in Slytherin robes as he was finally able to grip Fenrir with both hands around the head. With a quick twist of his hands, Fenrir fell to the ground, his neck broken.

The other boy began to walk away from the werewolf when he too fell to his knees. When they were close enough, the group watching could see that he was not going to make it because of the amount of blood that he had lost. They were surprised when a sandy haired boy knelt by the boy and tried to stop the flow of blood. The sandy haired boy yelled at something over his shoulder before putting pressure on the boy's wound. The ones that were watching stepped away and looked around as fog began to flow over the battleground.

The sandy haired boy suddenly stood up and held out a potions vial to the boy on the ground. They watched in shock as the boy took the potion and then allowed the sandy haired boy help him to his feet. The Slytherin boy was no longer bleeding even though the wound was still clearly visible. They both nodded at each other before disappearing back into the fighters after picking up a few more fallen wands.

"That was Marcus Flint. He died last year in a raid on a muggle town. His parents died in the same raid." Severus whispered.

They watched as children that they knew and others that they had never taught died while fighting adults with spells that they did not even recognize. Albus and the other teachers recognized some of the children as they fell. Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones fell to werewolves. Mandy Brocklehurst fell to a Death Eater. Most surprising were Theo Nott and Pansy Parkinson who fell to their fathers. The majority of the children they had never seen before and could only surmise that they had never come to Hogwarts in this world. It was that, or they had already been killed before they had a chance to attend Hogwarts.

Albus could see that the children that were fighting knew a wide array of spells that he could not imagine the children had learned at Hogwarts. He paused beside Severus as the same bushy headed girl darted in front of him while screaming something that they could not hear. Turning, they watched as the other Draco cast spells furiously at Bellatrix Lestrange. They could all see that Bellatrix was having the time of her life as she shot spells at her young cousin. Almost everyone watching had gathered around to watch them duel; Draco was amazed at the skill of his other self and could not imagine fighting in a battle such as this.

Many of them tried to read Bellatrix's lips as she began to laugh and taunt her young cousin. All of a sudden, she turned slightly and shot a Killing Curse towards Hermione, who had her back turned so that she could fight with someone else. The other Draco Screamed as she put her Death Eater down with a purple spell that no one could identify. She turned just in time to see the other Draco step into the path of the Killing Curse for her. Those watching the battle, watched as the girl screamed as she caught the body of the other Draco and laid him on the ground.

She held him for a moment with her head bowed over him before grabbing the two wands he held and standing to face Bellatrix with no emotion on her face. The only indication that she was bothered by the death that surrounded her was the tear tracks that had made their way down her cheeks. She flew into a flurry of motion as she began to duel one of the most notorious Death Eaters. After trading spells for unknown minuets, Bellatrix landed a cutting curse across the girl's chest.

Everyone thought that she would fall with the severity of the wound; they watched her press her hand against the wound as Bellatrix laughed. They were shocked when they watched the girl pull her hand away from the wound without flinching and glanced behind her at something. She raised her wand and firmed her stance as Bellatrix looked at her incredulously. Her wound was barely bleeding even though everyone could see that it was an extremely deep cut.

The Order watched in shock as Bellatrix turned and tried to disappear into the fighters behind her instead of continuing her fight with the girl. With one more glance at her wound, the girl cast a curse that no one recognized and pulled a struggling Bellatrix back towards her with her magic holding the witch so that she could not escape. Everyone could tell that Bellatrix was actually afraid as the girl held her wand steady and raised Draco Malfoy's wand with her other hand. Whatever the girl cast with the second wand left no trace of the woman that was trained by the Dark Lord himself. The woman just exploded in a shower of dust.

Albus gasped as he watched the girl use two wands simultaneously. "She should not be able to do that…" he could only whisper through his shock.

The bushy haired girl stared at the place Bellatrix had stood for a moment before she walked over and picked up Bellatrix's wand. She then turned and headed of in the direction she had looked when checking on her wound. She yelled at each teen that was still standing as she ran past. Those watching followed behind as the other teens seemed to fight just a little bit harder so that they quickly finished their current fights and also began to make their way in the direction the girl was heading.

Albus was the first to break through the dense line of Death Eaters that seemed to ring the area the girl had disappeared to. The others hurried to join him when they heard his started yell of "That is impossible." No one had ever heard that shocked tone of voice from the Headmaster before. As soon as they broke through the fights that were obscuring their view, they could only stand dumbfounded at what they were seeing.

There, in the middle of the ring of Death Eaters was a boy with messy black hair fighting Voldemort. That was surprising enough, but the boy was also standing against four other Death Eaters as he fought Voldemort. Most of the Death Eaters were watching the fight from the ring that they had broken through. They did not even try to stop the other teens as they rushed past them and towards the boy. The adults and teens watching the fighting could only stare with their mouths hanging open at the boy as he used two wands to fight Voldemort. He cast spells so fast that no one could tell what he was casting and what was coming out of which wand. It was both beautiful and horrible to watch at the same time.

Severus stepped forward in shock. "He has my wand." He would recognize it anywhere. The other's looked at the boy a little closer to see if there was anything about him that they recognized.

All of a sudden, the boy spun as he cast what looked like a percussion spell to knock all five that he was fighting down at one time. In the brief moment that the Death Eaters and their Lord were on the ground, the boy was joined by the rest of the teens that were still alive and the bushy haired girl. It looked like the fighting was condensing to this one point on the grounds. The group was surrounded by the surviving Death Eaters. The group watched with wide eyes, sure that they were about to witness the deaths of the teens that they had been watching fight for their lives.

They watched as the group began to pull out the wands that they had picked up from the fallen. A few wands were passed to other teens with little or no speaking that those watching could see. The group of teens looked to the boy with messy hair before standing in a circle facing out so that they could cover each other's backs. It was a painfully small and wounded group that faced the Death Eaters and the Dementors that the watchers could see coming over the tops of the trees to the Forbidden Forrest at last. All motion on the battlefield seemed to stop as the Death Eaters gathered closer around the small circle of children.

In that small circle they recognized Ginny, Fred, George, and Percy Weasley, The blond girl with the long braid, Luna Lovegood, and a sandy haired boy that no one knew, Marcus Flint, and Adrian Pucey. Counting, they thought there were about twenty teenagers in the circle, maybe a few more as it was hard to tell for sure with them moving and passing wands as they were.

The bushy haired girl was standing in front of the messy haired boy and seemed to be arguing as she dug her hand into a beaded bag. Albus raised his brows as he watched her arm disappear up to her shoulder. She pulled yet another wand out of her bag and began to wave a wand under the boy's nose until he took it with a look of defeat.

Albus gasped as he recognized the wand the boy was now holding in the same hand as Severus's wand. "That is my wand."

The boy watched the bushy haired girl as she took a place beside him in their circle with two wands in her hands like the rest of the teens. The boy was the only one holding three. He continued to hold the wands from Albus and Severus in one hand while he held another wand in the other hand.

The teens all raised one hand at the same time and began to cast the Patronus Charm. The ones watching all stared in shock as corporeal patronuses began to form. There were so many misty animals running around that it took a while to see them individually but soon they could see a hare, horse, otter, tabby cat, and a Devils Snare surrounding the Dementors and keeping them contained with the other patronuses. The watchers were even more shocked as they all raised their other hands and cast a powerful shield that over lapped with the one cast by the person standing beside them, creating one large bubble over the teens.

"That…should not be possible." Albus blinked along with the others. No one bothered to respond as they all agreed that none of what they were seeing was possible.

They watched as Voldemort appeared to say something to the children that were encased in the bubble while holding his arms out. The Death Eaters all started to laugh at whatever was said. The boy with the messy hair just smirked and said something that made the Dark Lord scream in rage.

The boy just continued to smirk as he raised the hand that held the two wands into the air. Albus stepped back in shock as the boy began to cast the Patronus Charm without speaking. He didn't even have to tell anyone that what the boy was doing was impossible because they were all seeing the same thing he was. From the two wands that the boy held stalked out a golden stag, grim, werewolf, and panther. The four patronuses stalked around the bubble shield as they waited for instructions from their caster while the boy said something else to Voldemort.

"Are those our Animagus forms?" Sirius asked incredulously as he pointed.

Remus just nodded. "Well. I think that is me as a werewolf. That is three of the marauders represented. Who is the panther though?"

"That is mine." Severus whispered as he looked at the boy with wide eyes.

The boy lifted his chin and said something to Voldemort that caused all the Death Eaters to take a step back with looks of fear. The boy the twitched his hand that was holding the two wands and the four patronuses shot into the air where the other patronuses were still circling the Dementors.

The four golden patronuses cut through into the middle of the Dementors and began to attack. The silver patronuses that had been cast by the other teens kept the Dementors from escaping as the Dementors were destroyed in burst of gold and black sparks.

"That is…" Albus did not bother to finish as he continued to stare. The others just nodded. The teens that were watching were not even sure what they were seeing.

Within a few minutes the Dementors had been destroyed and the Death Eaters all looked petrified as they faced the boy with shaking hands holding tightly to their wands. It was clear that they would rather be anywhere other than standing behind their Lord right then.

The circle of teens all lowered their arms and recast their shields with the wands they had used to cast the patronuses. They held their other wands still at the ready. When the first spell hit the shield, it was like a dam had broken. Spells were flying at a phenomenal rate causing the bubble shield to light up with each impact. The teens within the bubble were casting spells every bit as fast as the Death Eaters that surrounded them. Each spell the teens cast seemed to slip through the bubble as a section of the shield would drop for a second before reforming, causing Death Eaters to begin to drop like flies.

The watchers winced in unison as they watched Voldemort cast a Killing Curse.

One thing was common knowledge to wizards everywhere; nothing could stop a Killing Curse. The Spell did not even have to hit a person on their body to kill them. If the Killing Curse hit a shield or collided with someone's magic in any way, the curse would follow the magic back to the caster and kill them as sure as if it had hit them head on. With the way the shields the teens were overlapping, the one curse would be enough to see them all dead.

Moments before the spell hit the shield; the messy headed boy screamed and cast his own shield spell with the hand holding the two wands. He never stopped sending spells towards with Voldemort with his other hand; he was not even bothering to make a hole in the shield as his spells were passing through it as though it did not exist. The bubble flickered and turned slightly golden as the boy added his shield to the one the others had cast.

There was another pause in spell fire as the Killing Curse impacted the shield causing it to flair brighter. The boy continued to scream as the spell condensed, the green focusing on where the boy had cast his shield, finally it dissipated, leaving all those inside the bubble still standing.

Albus made a sound deep in his throat but could not manage to say anything.

All of a sudden, every Death Eater began to cast Killing Curses at the bubble. The boy cast another shield spell with his second wand as the green from each spell condensed over where his spells connected with the shield.

The watchers were unable to see anyone in the bubble now because the spell fire was so bright. They were pushed to their knees as they heard a loud BOOM.

Magic seemed to saturate the very air they were breathing as they tried to regain their breath. The magic was so dense that it felt like a living thing. As they staggered to their feet, the ones that had watched the battle noticed that the magic they were feeling was actually a physical manifestation of Magic that looked like fog.

Once they were standing and could look around, they watched as the magic settled closer to the ground, forming heavy green tendrils. They also noticed that the air was clear and they could see that the strange battlefield they had seen was gone.

What had not disappeared was the golden bubble shield in which twenty or more teenagers were standing.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Wow, I cannot believe the response this story has received so far. This story has not even been out 24 hours and it has already had over 20 reviews, over 70 followers, over 40 favorites and over 500 hits. To say that I am overwhelmed is an understatement. I hope that the story lives up to expectations and that you guys enjoy it.

Thank you so much for letting me know what you think of my story.

Happy Reading

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

{Parseltongue}

No one was quite sure if they were really seeing the golden bubble in their own world or not and turned to Albus for answers. Albus stood for a moment before walking closer to the golden bubble before him. Severus and some of the other Order members moved forward with the Headmaster.

Severus watched as his feet moved through the magic that had physically manifested in dark green coils. The coils were moving along the ground as though agitated. He knew that he had never read about magic manifesting in this manner. He was amazed that whatever or whoever was causing the phenomenon now, had also caused it through the length of the battle they had watched. While they were looking through the tear everything looked faded and ghostly and caused it to look like fog or mist. Now that he thought about it, the only real color they had seen was the spells cast and the golden color of the four patronuses and the shield. He came to a stop beside Albus as he tried to gather his thoughts.

They had to stop a few feet from the shield as the magic on the ground seemed to solidify as though perceiving them as a threat. From this distance they could see the faces of the teens inside clearly. The boy with the messy hair tilted his head to the side and let his shields drop. The others soon lowered their wands and let the shields they had cast drop as well. The teens looked around in confusion before stepping closer to the black haired boy.

The boy locked gazes with Severus Snape for a moment before nodding and speaking clearly. "Professor."

As he spoke, the others snapped their heads in Severus's direction in surprise. Eyes widened when they saw Albus and some of the others that were standing with them, but the boy never took his eyes off of Severus's.

The bushy haired girl turned suddenly to look worriedly at the black haired boy. She reached out and grabbed the boy by the arm. The others soon turned their gazes to the boy in concern, it was as though they knew something that the others standing outside their small group did not.

"Tired." The boy still had not moved his eyes from the confused gaze of Severus as he whispered.

The coils of magic on the ground suddenly began to move towards the children that were standing around the boy. None of the adults could explain what was going on as the magic that had become a physical thing, slowly, was pulled into the boy. As the last tendril of magic disappeared into the boy, his eyes rolled up and he fell to the ground. As soon as he lost consciousness, the other teens also fell to the ground unconscious.

No one moved for a minute, unsure as to what had caused them to lose consciousness all at once. They all snapped into motion when Draco pointed to the bushy haired girl and screamed that she was bleeding. Sure enough, the wound they had witnessed her receiving from Bellatrix Lestrange had begun to bleed again. As the adults rushed over to the unconscious children, they noticed that they were all bleeding or had broken bones or other wounds. None of them could tell how they had managed to stand, much less fight and cast spells like they had been doing.

Lily, Narcissa, Severus, Poppy, Marlene, and Bill quickly staunched the wounds that were bleeding the worst and conjured stretchers for the teens. They hurried off to the infirmary with the floating stretchers that were carrying the teens following the adults in orderly lines.

Albus walked over to the castle and placed his hands on the stones beside the main door. "What are you doing Albus?" Minerva asked from behind him.

"I am locking down the wards. No one will go out, and no one will come in." Albus had never sounded so grave. Once he had locked down the castle, he made his way towards the infirmary with Minerva and Filius at his heals. They were the last to enter the castle. He was relieved that they did not ask him any questions because, at this point in time, he had no answers for them.

The hallway in front of the infirmary was full. Sitting along the wall on one side of the hall were Charlie, Bill, Arthur, and Molly Weasley. They looked to be in shock that some of the teens in the other room were alternate versions of their deceased family members. Lucius and Draco Malfoy sat silently side by side. Albus knew without looking into their minds that they were thinking about their alternate-selves and what they had done. Tonks was sitting on the other side of the hall beside Remus, Sirius, James and Kingsley. Alice and Frank were standing by the window at the end of the corridor. Xeno was staring off into space as he looked a blank stretch of wall.

Looking around, Albus was relieved that the house elves were watching the younger children in one of the unused classroom in the dungeons. There were no windows where they were, so they would not have been able to see the battle that had waged outside their walls. He could not imagine trying to explain the battle to the younger of the children. Looking at Jamie's pale face, he knew that the boy would probably have nightmares tonight. Casting one last look around the hall at the confused and worried expressions, he entered the infirmary.

He stopped in shock once he could see what was going on in the infirmary. All twenty-five teens that had appeared in the bubble were laid out on beds. Lily was casting a spell on the girl that had the long blond braid. Narcissa was bent over Luna Lovegood. Marlene was looking at a piece of parchment in confusion while looking at the sandy haired boy. Bill was running a diagnostic on Ginny Weasley. Poppy was dabbing at the wound on the girl with the bushy hair's chest. Severus was just standing over the messy haired boy without moving while clutching a scroll tightly in his fist.

He had fully expected to walk into a room of chaos. What he did not expect to see were the green tendrils of magic the boy had pulled into himself outside snaking around the room.

"Is the boy conscious?" He asked in confusion while looking around at the tendrils of magic. He could literally feel the magic that was saturating the air in the infirmary.

Severus looked up and shook his head. "No. Once we got here, the girl with the braid stopped breathing, and the magic just came crawling out of the boy again. It is definitely coming from him, and he has not moved since he fell on the grounds. Soon after the magic manifested again, the girl started breathing again while we had not had a chance to even get to her bed yet."

Poppy walked over to Albus and shook her head. "Quite frankly Albus, we are just helping things along. It looks like the boy is healing them. I can tell you that the girl over there, had two broken bones in her left hand, the cutting curse that she took was all the way to the bone and should have killed her instantly. There were various other things that I was not able to get a full read on because they were already being healed. The cut on her chest will scar, but that is about the only thing that will need attention, well, she will also need nutrient potions for quite some time. I am sure that the girl was not getting regular meals." Poppy looked upset for a moment before she continued. "She has a cursed scar on her arm that has already healed as much as it will ever heal. Someone carved the word 'Mudblood into her arm." The adults in the room gasped as they looked at the girl on the bed.

"And the others? What of them?" Albus looked around and watched as the green tendrils seemed to caress each of the teens as it flowed over them before it retreated and moved around the room again.

Lily walked over with a parchment in her hand. "The girl with the braid will be alright. She had a few cuts that should have caused massive blood loss, but they were already healing when we got her up here. She had a broken rib that had pierced her lung, which is why she stopped breathing. The boy's magic corrected the issue before I could even get a full diagnosis to find out what was going on. She is also malnourished. Before I looked at her, I was working with the werewolf that Severus recognized as Marcus Flint. He is in the same condition as the others, except that he had been hit with a spell that put silver in his blood stream. That should have killed him, but the silver was being pushed out of his pores once the boy released his magic again. I have never seen anything like that."

"Ginny, ahem, Ginny, Fred, George and Percy were the same. She had a few cuts and her leg was broken in two places and George had some broken ribs. Fred's left shoulder was dislocated and his foot was shattered. Percy had several deep cuts." Bill never took his eyes off of the red headed girl as he told them of the injuries that he had seen on the other versions of his siblings. "They all started to heal when the others did."

"I think they are all going to be the same. Luna had been hit with a few curses I did not recognize, but the magic seems to be taking care of those as well as it does any injury. She had a few cuts and the skin on one of her arms was burned badly. It seems to be healing faster than any bruise cream I could use. These two boys had about the same as the others" Narcissa ran her fingers through the blond hair of what looked to be the youngest boy in the group sleeping on the hospital bed.

Marlene walked over to stand beside Lily. "The boy I was looking at had a broken bone in his left leg, his right arm was shattered, he had burns on his back…and now he seems to be much better. I don't understand what is going on here." She held her parchment out to Albus in frustration.

"Severus, what of the boy?"

Severus looked up at the question. "As far as I can tell he will be fine. His wounds were already healing at an accelerated rate when we put him in the bed and then it sped up when his magic manifested again. I decided that, since there were no immediate issues with the boy that needed my attention, I would cast as comprehensive diagnosis. This is a list of every injury he has ever had." He walked over and handed a rolled up parchment to the Headmaster.

Albus looked from his Potions Master to the parchment he had been handed in bemusement. _I wonder what is in this report that has confounded Severus so much._ Flicking the parchment out, Albus, along with the other adults, stared in shock as the parchment unrolled until the bottom was lying across the floor. It had to be at least four and a half feet long. Albus, as old as he was, still only filled two feet of parchment when this diagnostic was run for him. A good portion of those two feet was associated with the aches and pains that came with old age.

Albus finally rolled up the parchment for perusal latter. He was too shocked and did not think he would be able to read it clearly at the moment. "Do we know who the others are? We all recognized Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood, and Marcus Flint; do we have an idea as to who the others are?"

Severus walked over to a bed to look at the tall boy that rested there. "I think that this boy is Adrian Pucey. Our version of this boy died not long after he joined the Dark Lord." He turned away from the boy and motioned to two girls. "Those girls are Millicent Bulstrode and Tracy Davis. They were half-bloods that disappeared last year. We could not figure out what had happened to them. Those are the only ones I recognize."

"We have not tried to find out about the rest. I suppose that we could cast a αποκαλύπτουν την ταυτότητα." Marlene said as she pursed her lips in thought. When she noticed that the others were staring at her, she blushed. "We use it at the hospital if there are doubts about parentage for a child. It is a Greek spell that literally means 'reveal the identity" and will show their name and the names of their parents."

"Alright. Try the spell on the boy first, if you don't mind." Albus was almost desperate to know who the boy was that had access to so much power.

"Sure." Marlene walked over to the bed that the boy was resting on and tried to ignore the way the magic tendrils seemed to curl about her ankles as she walked. Taking a deep breath, she waved her wand over the chest of the boy to form an infinity symbol and said clearly, "αποκαλύπτουν την ταυτότητα." The spell caused a gray wisp to float above the boy's chest and within the grey mist, words began to form.

Before the words were fully formed, a green tendril shot off the floor and through the spell that had been cast, causing the grey mist to dissipate like smoke. The tendrils around the room seemed to edge closer to the beds before climbing up the bed frames like ivy, only to come back to rest on each of the sleeping teens. The tendrils of magic seemed as though they were getting ready to defend against an attack.

"Ah. Well, um, that…I don't think that will work Headmaster." Marlene looked around the room and stepped away from the boy. There was nothing that the Headmaster could do to get her to cast another, non-healing spell at any of these teens.

"Yes, maybe it would be for the best if we were to just wait until they awaken." Dumbledore looked around and could not help but think that this boy could either be a very large boon to his world, or a very large problem. He could only hope for the former, because there would be nothing he could do if it turned out that the latter was true. "Poppy, do we at least know when they will regain consciousness?"

"I would have said days before I watched…whatever this is. As of right now, I think, it could be by morning, maybe. It could even be within the hour as fast as the boy is healing them. I just don't know Headmaster. I have never seen anything remotely like this. The boy should not be able to heal others like he did while they were fighting, especially with what he was doing at the same time. I think that he was literally holding them conscious and healing them while they were fighting. He may have been actually fueling their magic with his own to help them. I don't know that they could have performed the Patronus Charm and the shields they cast without having his magic backing them up. What we thought was fog during that battle, was probably, at least in part, his magic seeking out the others."

"Let us take this into a room where the others can hear as well, I have a feeling they would want to know what is going on anyway." Albus looked around and knew that he would not have the answers that the others would need. "Poppy, see if you can cast a monitoring charm on the room so that we will know when they start to awaken."

Poppy winced as she looked at the agitated tendrils of green magic around the room. "Well, maybe I will just cast it on the wall by the door instead of near the beds then." Poppy took a deep breath and looked again at the magic before casting the monitoring charm on the wall. After the spell took hold, a small green tendril seemed to inspect the spell before moving back towards the floor. Poppy swallowed as she watched the magic as it inspected her monitoring spell. She really did not want to see what it would have done if it did not like what she had cast. _It is almost acting sentient._ Poppy had to shake herself when the Headmaster began to speak again.

"Alright, I believe that there is an unused classroom down the hall that we can use." Albus opened the doors to the infirmary and walked out with the others walking close behind him.

Those in the hall all jumped to their feet as soon as they saw the adults that had been in the infirmary with the Headmaster. Before they could even began asking questions, their attention was caught by a frightened squeak from Ron.

Ron was frantically swiping at his leg to stop the advancing green tendril of magic that was creeping up his body. Malfoy soon joined in the frantic swiping motion as another tendril began to do the same to him. The adults watched with wide eyes as the boy's hands simply passed through the tendrils of magic that was climbing over their bodies. Soon, the boys were just standing as still as they could in the hopes that the tendrils would go away on their own.

"What is this?" Lucius Malfoy had also tried to push the green tendrils off of his son and was looking at the Headmaster with frightened eyes. The Weasley were still trying to get the tendril off of Ron.

"It is the boy's magic; the one with the black hair." Severus explained as he walked over to Draco. "Look there, he had a cut, probably from the fight between Draco and Ron. It is healing."

Molly quickly started looking over Ron and found a cut on his leg that was slowly closing. Frank pointed to a bruise that had been on his arm that was almost completely gone. The adults all closed their eyes in relief. The magic had not attacked their children.

"What is going on?" Molly asked desperately as she looked around at the tendrils of magic that had spilled out of the infirmary.

"I was just about to suggest that we retire to a classroom down the hall while we wait for our…visitors…to awaken."

"Awaken? Surely they will not wake for days with the amount of injuries they had."

Albus just smiled at the incredulous question that came from Remus Lupin. "It seems as though the boy is using his magic to speed the process along, very much like he did with young Draco and Ron here. They could awaken anytime. We just do not know when that will be." Albus watched as the two tendrils of magic that had followed them through the doors of the infirmary inspected everyone in the hall.

The magic seemed to linger over a few, much to the discomfort of Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, who stood stiffly as they were inspected by the strange magic. Tonks squeaked before closing her eyes as a tendril inspected her. It seemed to linger by her hair as it turned green to match the color of the magic before it moved on to Alastor who was trying to inspect it with his magical eye. Finally the magic retreated, leaving only one tendril in the hall. Severus raised one brow as the tendril made its way over to him and settled itself around his shoulders as though it were a pet snake.

"I suppose…well…I don't really know what to suppose about this, but I doubt that I would be able to get it off anyway." Severus just looked at Albus and the others as though he was used to foreign magic settling on his person like a pet. "Shall we?" He motioned his arm down the hall and looked at the Headmaster expectantly.

"Ahem. Yes. Follow me everyone." Albus lead the way down the hall and entered a room only three doors down from the infirmary. He pulled open the door and led the others into an unused classroom that was full of desks and chairs. It was as though a class could take place at any moment. He made his way to the desk at the front of the room and sat tiredly in the creaky chair.

The others came in and chose their seats. The first row contained James, Jamie, and Lily Potter, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. The second row had a still pale Lucius, Draco, and Narcissa Malfoy, Alastor Moody and Nymphadora Tonks. The third row was just long enough to hold the Weasley family. Bill and Charlie sat on one side of their parents while Ron sat beside his father on the aisle. The forth row contained Filius Flitwick, Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape, Marlene McKinnon, and Kingsley Shacklebolt. Poppy, Alice, Frank and Xeno took seats in the last row.

Albus stared at his hands as he wondered what he could tell these people. He looked up and watched as various members of the order would open their mouths to ask a question before closing them without ever saying anything. Albus closed his eyes and sighed. He knew exactly how they felt because he was not really sure what to think of what had happened either. He had never felt so out of his element before.

"I am sorry, but I do not have the answers to put you at ease. What I do know, is that these children come from a world that is similar to this one in some way. From what we witnessed, I would say that the similarity is that Voldemort exists." He ignored the flinches that occurred when he said the name of the Wizard they all feared.

"Poppy thinks that the boy with the black hair we saw fighting Voldemort, was actually sharing his magic with the others to keep them from falling. That is why we think they passed out when the boy did." Albus held up one hand so that he would not be interrupted. "The green tendril of magic that seems content to stay with Severus for the moment is from the boy. Somehow, he is able to manifest his magic in a way I have never seen before." Albus paused for a moment as he got lost in his thoughts. He looked up to see expectant faces looking back at him. "If I were to hazard a guess, I would say that the boy is a Mage."

Albus closed his eyes as the room exploded in noise. He understood how they would have a hard time processing the fact the boy may be a Mage, especially since he was having difficulty believing it and he was the one that came up with the idea. It was the only thing that made any since.

Albus, Alastor and Severus were the only ones that did not say anything as the others argued about the impossibility of a teenager actually being a Mage. Alastor finally stood from his seat and cast a spell to get everyone's attention.

"Listen here. All of you saw the same thing that I did. That boy was fighting the Dark Lord while using two wands _while_ sharing his magic with those other teens. I haven't even motioned that the boy shielded Killing Curses. Not one. Multiple killing Curses. Everyone knows that Morgana Killed Merlin with a Killing Curse so it is clear that the boy can do at least one thing that the Great Merlin could not. Even when he is unconscious, the boy's magic acts as though it is a living thing." At this, Alastor pointed at Severus, who was sitting calmly with the boy's magic still sitting on his shoulder. "I don't think that we should be arguing about whether the boy is a Mage or not, do you?" Looking around and not seeing anyone that wanted to continue their previous arguments, he nodded and sat back down. Minerva looked at the old Auror; she had never heard him say so much at one time before. Normally he just barked out orders or yelled 'Constant vigilance randomly.

"Fine, the boy is a Mage. Albus how can that even happen?" Molly spoke up after looking around the room for a moment.

"Most of you are familiar with the history we know of Merlin, are you not?" Looking around, he saw most of the adults nod. The three students he had in the room were just staring at him. They would not have learned about Merlin's history until seventh year because the Board of Governors felt it was too dark to allow the younger years to hear of it.

"Well for those of you that are not or that do not remember well I will recap. Each Witch or Wizard is gifted with Magic. Magic its self is thought to be sentient by many of the most learned scholars and most feel that the muggle-born that have Magic, have been deemed worthy by Magic itself. This is not a matter a child being good or some such thing; this is worthiness on a soul level. When a soul is found worthy, Magic gifts them, and then a muggle-born is born. Everyone understand so far?" This was not a commonly known theory, and most did not bother to delve into Advanced Magical Theory, so most of those listening were fascinated with the information.

"A Mage is not born like a normal Witch or Wizard; they are created by Magic after they are already on this Earth. From what we know of Merlin's history and the little information on the Mages that existed before his time, Magic has to be affronted on a massive scale for it to interfere directly with Wizards and Witches that already have Magic. Generally it is thought that it only interferes enough to insure its survival by creating Muggle-born when it finds someone if feels is worthy." Albus looked around to make sure that everyone was following the explanation. "When Merlin was young, he was tortured past the point of death by his father who hated him. Each time he came close to death, Magic would interfere and save him, and at the same time would increase his own Magic so that he would be better protected."

"Eventually, Magic had increased his powers above what can be measured by the Emrys Scale. The scale we use to measure a person's power is named after the one person it could not measure. As you know, 0-300 would be classified as non-magical or squib. A person that ranged from 300-500 would be on the weaker side and would probably have trouble casting spells, even with a wand. They normally never pass anything higher than OWLs. 500-800 would be the range that an average or moderately powerful Wizard. Then, 800-1,000 would be the range that the most powerful Wizards and Witches would fall into. When Tom Riddle left school, before he renamed himself Voldemort, his power was at just over 860. I am sure that it has grown, but it would not have been able to grow more than 25 points since reaching his majority. Most reach their full power before they graduate or right afterwards."

"Do you know what my score would be? What was your score?" Ron asked his questions bluntly. His father tried to shush him, but Albus just chuckled.

"I do not yet know your score as we normally wait until graduation to test it. I suppose that we can test it if you wish to see your current score, but you will have to realize, that you still have a year to your magical majority. Jamie has three years." When the three boys in the room nodded excitedly, Albus smiled and summoned a purple crystal ball that was sitting on a three pronged stand. "This is the Emrys Crystal. It was created by an Unspeakable that wanted to be able to measure power. When it could not measure Merlin's power, he named it after the only Wizard he could not get a reading on."

He stood and placed the purple crystal in the center of the teacher's desk and motion for the boys to come closer. Once the boys were all standing in front of the desk, he pointed it at the crystal. "Now watch closely. The incantation is Potentia and just needs you to point at the crystal as you cast. Like so. Potentia." As Albus cast the spell, the crystal glowed before displaying the number 965 above the crystal in purple smoky numbers. "I think, let's see, yes, I think James was 795 at his majority, Lily was 735, Remus had a score of 764, Sirius 785, Lucius was 790 if I remember right, Narcissa was 780, Alastor was always powerful but had a score of 814, Nymphadora was at a 690, Bill 740, Charlie 745, Molly 715, Arthur 709, Filius was 803 or thereabouts, Minerva was 775, Severus was extremely powerful with a score of 855, Marlene was 675 and Kingsley had a score of 795. I think Frank had a score of 762 while Alice had a score of 708. Poppy has a score of 699 and Xenophilius has a score of 797" Albus pointed at each of the adults in the Order as he recited their scores before turning back to the three teens before him. "Are you ready to try?"

Ron nodded and stepped forward. His results showed his current power level at 590, causing him to pout a little. Albus patted his shoulder and motioned for Draco to proceed. Draco's puffed out his chest and smirked at Ron as his score displayed 660. Jamie was tried next and was proud that his score was 550.

"Now remember that they will most likely grow some before you reach your majority. You will do this again when you graduate."

Albus banished the crystal and retook his seat as the children made their way back to their own seats. Once the teens were again settled and the room was quiet again, he thought back over what they had been talking about. "I think we went off on a bit of a tangent. Where was I?"

Minerva snorted. "You were telling us how Mages were created and how Merlin was given enough power by Magic that he could not be registered on the Emrys Scale. I believe that you were going to tell us how you came to believe the boy was an actual Mage and not just a really powerful Wizard." Severus was impressed with her sarcasm as she spoke to the Headmaster.

"Ah, yes. Well, there is the fact that I am fairly powerful and would not be the least bit surprised if the boy would be able to take me out in a duel." Albus raised one brow as the room broke out in denials. "While I appreciate the faith you all have in me, I am just human. The boy, I believe, is much more powerful than myself. I do not think that he would register on the crystal at all. And that is an opinion I have formed watching him fight a battle that was going on who knows how long before the tear occurred, and that was while he was using his magic to help those other teens. I can assure you, that is something I would not be able to do even outside of battle conditions."

Albus was glad when everyone sat back and thought about what they had seen the boy do. Hopefully they would all come to the same realization that he had. He did not want to risk his people thinking they could go against that boy if they did not get along with the others once they woke up. He needed them to realize that they would have to be careful with their interactions until the learned more about the others.

"Of course, there is also this." Albus held up the scroll that Severus had handed him while they had been in the infirmary. He immediately had the attention of everyone in the room.

"Well, what is it?" Lucius asked impatiently.

"This is the comprehensive medical report that Severus performed on the boy." Albus said while still looking at the rolled up scroll. Glancing up at the faces of the confused adults in the room, he sighed and allowed the scroll to unfurl.

Only those adults that had been in the infirmary the first time that the scroll opened were able to hide their shock. Severus just closed his eyes. He had read some of the injuries listed on that scroll and had felt the overwhelming need to protect the boy if at all possible. No one should have had to endure what that boy had.

Albus began to skim the injuries listed on the scroll and paled. It was worse than he had imagined. "It appears as though the boy went through quite a bit more than our history shows for Merlin." Molly and a few other adults that were more knowledgeable of Merlin's history looked like they would vomit at this information. They were well aware of what Merlin's father had done to try and kill his son. "It says that he was hit with the Killing Curse when he was a bit over one year old."

The room became so quiet that you would have heard breathing if anyone was able to take a breath at that moment. Finally Lily took a deep breath, seeming to trigger the others into breathing again. "How is that possible?"

"I don't know Lily. All I can surmise is that Magic was very offended, even then. Something… unconscionable…must have happened. After this event, the boy seems to have a change of living conditions. Everything before then looks normal for a toddler, however, from the Killing Curse until the time he turns two, he had had three broken bones, various cuts, bruises and burns." Scanning down the list he paled even more and closed his eyes. "It seems that is just the tip of the ice burg. The boy should have died many times before he was eleven. The only way he would have survived even just the malnutrition alone would have been with Magic's interference. The boy was starved. By the time he went to Hogwarts at eleven, from the amount of times that Magic interfered to keep the boy alive, I would guess he would have already registered at least a 750 on the Emrys Scale."

"Well that is not nearly Mage level Albus." Sirius said from the front row.

"I said that was when he was eleven. Most eleven year olds register somewhere between the 330-500 range since their Magic has not matured. The Emrys Scale is to measure adults. It does not measure potential, just your current level. That is the reason we use the scale at graduation. Most have no growth after their majority." Albus watched as Minerva processed the information before closing her eyes in thought. He continued after a few more moments of silence. "It does not appear that he was removed from the abuse as it seems to happen in smaller, but no less devastating, bursts. I would guess that those bursts of abuse are from the summers when he would have returned home. Then again, it looks like his time at Hogwarts was not as peaceful as one would hope."

Filius squeaked from the back of the room. "What do you mean by that, Albus?"

"Oh." Albus looked back at the scroll and took a deep breath. "Well, eleven, so first year, there were four times the boy was injured in some fashion, one of those times he was close to dying. The boy's second year has one major injury listed that is worse than the others which includes an injury from an Acromantula and having his bones in his arm broken, banished, and then regrown for some reason." Albus looked around the room at the pale faces. "He was bitten by a Basilisk."

The room was filled with horrified gasps and questions about how the boy would have even come into contact with a Basilisk in the first place. Once the room settled again, he continued with a grave tone.

"Third year shows exposures to spell fire and…and Dementors exposure. Fourth year shows Hypothermia, failed attempts of the Imperius Curse, another Acromantula injury, more spell fire, exposure to the Cruciatus Curse twice, and it looks like he was hit with the Killing Curse again." Albus paused even though the room stayed silent. "I would say that he was close to approaching Mage level by the end of his fourth year after going through that, if not before then. It is possible that he had already crossed the line and became a Mage."

"Fifth year shows that there was Dementor exposure over the summer it seems. He had prolonged exposure to a blood quill, and from the spell damage he took that year all at once, including exposure to another Cruciatus Curse and Killing Curse, I would also guess that he was in his first all-out battle."

"His sixth year has more spell damage showing. Most are Dark in nature and probably would have happened in some sort of battle. I would guess that the boy was not with his abusers very long as there is more indications of a battle during his summer."

"In what would have been the boy's seventh year, the boy again is not getting enough food and it looks like he is in many fights. He was exposed to some kind of extremely Dark Magic that is not named, which is not a good thing at all, and he almost drowned while getting hypothermia again. I don't know how all this took place at Hogwarts as it looks like he is fighting fairly steadily. There are a few more instances of the Cruciatus Curse and Killing Curse, 5 and 3 respectively. I think those may include the ones we witnessed as they were the last that registered on the list."

Albus rolled the scroll back up and sat silently as he looked at the parchment in his hand. He could not imagine even going through a portion of what the boy survived.

"So you see. I think it is a very real possibility that the boy is a Mage I would be shocked if he was not. I also think it is possible that the boy may have surpassed Merlin in power." Albus spoke so quietly that the others in the room could barely hear. Some of them wanted to protest, but they simply could not after hearing about what the boy had survived.

"So…he is what? Seventeen?" Jamie asked in awe.

"I think so. The parchment is not exact when dealing with years. The first things normally documented are little bumps and bruises when children start to move around. We will be able to tell for sure once we can talk to the boy."

Everyone in the room jumped as an elf popped into the room beside the Headmaster.

"Tippy is being sorry for disturbing Master Headmaster sir. Tippy is being coming to tells you that there is being strange Wizards and Witches in Tippy's Kitchen. Tippy is being feedings the Strange Witches and Wizards and thens being coming to tells you that there is being strange Witches and Wizards in Tippy's kitchen." The house elf then popped back out of the room without waiting for the stunned Headmaster to say anything.

"Poppy? Did the alert for the hospital wing go off?" Albus asked as he stood. Poppy just shook her head as she stood from the back of the room and made her way towards the Headmaster. "Alright, the boy's magic probably disabled it at some point then. Well, shall we go and see if we can get some answers?"

Albus looked around and watched as the room stood as a whole to follow him. They had been discussing the boy for almost three hours. Hopefully they would soon find answers to the many questions they all had.

There was one question first and foremost in the Headmaster's mind. Who was the black haired boy?


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you everyone for your reviews, follows, and favorites. I am so glad that so many of you are enjoying the story and I hope that continues to be true.

Happy Reading

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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

{Parseltongue}

The group followed Albus as he hurried through the halls of Hogwarts towards the kitchens. They were walking at a quick pace causing some of the shorter people in the group to almost have to run to keep up with the pace. The group did not make much noise as they made their way through the empty corridors; the only sound that could be heard was the quick breathing of those that were jogging, the quick footsteps on the stone in the hallway and the brush of fabric.

Most of the group was still thinking about the revelations that had come from the boy's medical report. A few of the adults were wondering how the children had managed to, not only wake up, but make their way all the way to the kitchen; they would have to have had to use a lot of energy to get from the infirmary to the kitchens as well as had extensive knowledge of the castle in order to find them since the location for the kitchens was not well known. Others were wondering who the children were. Some, such as Severus and Albus were wondering only about the boy and who he was.

Severus noticed that as they got closer to the kitchens the magical tendril that had lain across his shoulder seemed to writhe, as though it could feel that it was getting closer to its source. Severus really wanted to know how the boy could have his magic so detached from himself, yet still under his control. He knew, instinctively, that the tendril would have reacted if they had shown any indication that they were a threat to the boy, even from a distance and out of the boy's sight. He could almost feel the magic as it analyzed the attentions of those that were drawing closer to the kitchens.

They finally reached the portrait of the bowl of fruit that marked the entrance to the kitchens and came to a stop. Albus looked around to make sure that everyone was still with him and that no one had lagged behind before leaning over and tickling the pear. The pear in the portrait twitched and let out a small giggle before turning into a doorknob.

The kitchen was completely silent as the group walked into stand near the back wall of the kitchen near the door. The teens did not look at all surprised at arrival of the group and had simply turned their eyes towards the newcomers as they continued eating slowly.

The teens had all sat at the kitchen's version of the Gryffindor table with the black haired boy at the end sitting in an obviously conjured arm chair. Most of the teens seemed to be picking at pieces of bread or other bland foods instead of gobbling up the rich foods that had been provided by the house elves. A few of the adults that had seen the effects of malnutrition wondered if they had all had problems finding regular meals in the other world.

Poppy was determined to run full diagnostics on the teens as soon as she had a chance, and she was kicking herself for not doing so while they were still in the infirmary and unable to protest. Although, with the boy's magic reacting to the spell that would have told them who the children were, maybe that was not such a good idea. _Better to do it when they can give consent and know that it will not harm them._ Poppy nodded to herself as she made a plan of action.

Severus observed the black haired boy that sat in the armed chair at the far end of the table from his position near the door. The boy was leaning against the corner of the chair that was created between the back and the arm. He had one arm leaning against that armrest and seemed completely relaxed despite the sudden entrance of twenty-five new people. Severus was sure that the boy could probably out draw both he and Albus and have them incapacitated before they realized what had happened from even that relaxed position. He had seen the boy fight, and was not planning on pitting himself against the boy any time soon.

Severus watched as the boy's eyes flicked over the group he had entered with. His gaze only paused briefly a few times, so briefly that Severus was unable to tell who had caught his interest. Finally, the boy's gaze settled on Severus and remained. The tendril of Magic on Severus's shoulders slowly dissipated with the boy making no indication that he had called his magic back to himself.

None of the teens at the table seemed willing to break the silence that had settled over the kitchen. Even the House Elves had retreated to the other side of the room and were being quiet for once. A few of the adults noticed that the teens looked to the boy at the end of the table a few times before returning to their meals. It was very clear that the teens would be taking their cues from the black haired boy.

Severus continued to watch the boy that was watching him with a cool green gaze, while some of the others began to fidget as though they could not stand the silence. Severus wanted to roll his eyes at the others. They would have probably crawled out of their skin and began to tell every secret they knew if they had been under the unwavering gaze of those green eyes as he was at the moment. Severus stood silently under the observation of the boy, simply returning the gaze with one of his own.

Jamie Potter seemed to reach his breaking point all of a sudden as he blurted in in excitement wile pointing at the black haired boy. "You are a Mage!"

The teens paused briefly and looked up as the black haired boy's gaze shifted to the youngest person on the other side of the room. He briefly smirked at Jamie as he raised one brow in question. "Am I now?" He drawled. "Isn't that just…peachy." The black haired boy did not seem at all impressed with the title.

Jamie began to fidget as the boy continued to stare at him. "Yeah, it's like you are Merlin or something." The boy could not seem to contain his awe at the teen sitting before him. James placed his hand on his son's shoulder, causing the boy to flush as he realized that he was acting like a fanboy.

"Hn." A few of the teens smiled a little at the response from the black haired boy before returning their attention back to the food.

Albus finally cleared his throat. The boy's gaze shifted from the Jamie as the Headmaster began to speak. "Hello. I hope you are feeling better. I am…"

The boy tilted his head and spoke in an even tone, one that rivaled Severus's own baritone, before the Headmaster could finish introducing himself. "Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. Brother of Aberforth and Ariana. Son of Percival and Kendra. Prefect and Head Boy while at Hogwarts as a student. Professor of Transfiguration before Minerva McGonagall and Head of the Order of the Phoenix." The boy smirked at the dumbfounded Headmaster. "Hello Professor. How are you?"

More silence greeted the boy's comments about the Headmaster. Even Severus was amazed at the fact that the boy had stunned the Headmaster into silence within the space of a few seconds. That was something that he had never been able to accomplish. The silence was broken by the bushy haired Witch that was sitting to the right of the black haired boy. She leaned forward so that she could see the Headmaster clearly.

"Any chance that any of that information was wrong? There will obviously be points of divergence for your world and it is very possible that some of the information that we have from our Professor Dumbledore may very well be different than…"

"Mione, I am sure that they have the same theory that you have, and that they do not need an explanation about windows, or Merlin, or overloads or snot monsters. I am sure they are very smart people no matter what world they are in." The black haired boy rubbed the bridge of his nose as he interrupted the bushy haired witch, who quickly rounded on the boy.

"When have I ever mentioned snot monsters? I have…"

"Mione, I hardly ever actually completely understand what you are talking about and tune you out when you go on a long winded explanation about something. For all I know we were cursed by the Grand Snot Monster of the Forbidden Forrest." The black haired boy smirked as the bushy haired witch huffed and tossed a small piece of carrot at the boy. The boy reached out and snatched the carrot out of the air before it had a chance to hit him in the face.

A few of the adults blinked at the boys reflexes. Severus just focused his attention on not showing amusement at the boy's comments; obviously the black haired boy and the bushy haired girl were very close. Severus noticed that the boy looked a bit more relaxed as he bantered with the girl in what was obviously a common occurrence, a small bit, but a bit more relaxed all the same.

"Grand Snot Monster?" Jamie was looking toward the boy in fascinated horror. Sirius could not help but snicker at the thought that his godson was that gullible. No one paid any attention to the snickering marauder. The black haired boy, once again, turned unblinking eyes towards the youngest Potter in the room.

"Ahem." The Headmaster cleared his throat again. "Well, the information you have is all correct. I..do you mind if we sit?" the Headmaster gestured to the other end of the table the teens were sitting at.

The boy just gestured with one hand as though he was granting a boon to the Headmaster by allowing him to sit at his table. His face was once again a mask that showed nothing of what he was thinking.

"I gather from your comments that you realize that you are in a world that had existed parallel to your own?" When the black haired teen nodded once to show that he did, Albus continued. "I don't think it will be possible, but if you would like we can see if we can find a way to send…"

Once again the boy interrupted the Headmaster. "If anyone wants to go back…please…stand." The boy looked around at the teens that were sitting on either side of the table. All of the teens continued to slowly eat the bland food before them as though it was the most wonderful thing they had eaten in a long while. Not one of them even twitched or looked as though they were inclined to move. The boy turned his gaze back to the Headmaster. "There you go Professor. There is no need to research such a time consuming and pointless topic. No one wishes to return."

"But what about your families?" Molly was not able to stop herself from blurting out her question. She could not imagine not wanting to return to her world if she had been displaced, even with the war progressing as it was.

It was the bushy haired girl that spoke up. Watching closely, Severus thought that the teens may very well be sitting in their order of rank. The girl was clearly second in command to the black haired boy. The boy did not even blink when the girl began to speak after taking a quick glance in his direction.

"Am I correct that you witnessed a window of a sort on your end?" When the adults all nodded, the girl smiled briefly. "So, it is safe to say that you saw, at the very least, a small portion of the battle we were fighting?"

Kingsley was sitting closest to the teens on one side of the table. Like the others, he could not tear his eyes from the silent teens. "We saw more than a small portion. The tear was massive. We saw probably more than an hour before you appeared in your protective bubble shield.

"I see. Tell me, did you perhaps notice that there were not that many fighting on either side?" The girl's almost casual question caused the adults on the other side of the table to blink while thinking about the battle they had witnessed. It had been so chaotic that they had really not paid attention to the number of people fighting, though some had noticed a lack of adults on the teen's side of the fight. Thinking back on what they had seen, the adults were surprised that even the Death Eaters could not have numbered more than fifty.

The bushy haired girl continued after seeing the thoughtful looks that had crossed the adult's faces. "Well, the people you saw fighting were probably the last Magicals alive in Britain."

Even Severus and Lucius could not hide the shock they felt at the girl's blunt words. The teens on the other side of the table just watched them with no emotion crossing their faces. The Slytherins at the table were amazed at the masks that the teens in front of them were displaying.

The boy sitting across from the girl, and to the left hand side of the black haired boy, spoke next. "I can assure you, that there is nothing left for us there. That battle was actually over the last magical stronghold in Britain, and even that would probably not have provided safe shelter for very much longer. It was simply the safest place for the moment and both sides wanted to be able sleep without having to worry for a few nights."

"Was your Voldemort able to destroy that much of the Magical world?" Albus asked shocked. He, Severus and Alastor noticed that none of the teens flinched at the name like most of the adults on their side of the table did.

"Please, never call him _my_ Voldemort. That is just wrong on so many levels that it is not even funny." The black haired boy had a look of such disgust on his face that Severus again had a hard time hiding his amusement. "And no, he did not. The fighting got out of control one time near a muggle town. It was enough to draw the attention of the muggles." The boy's face was now relaxed and again betrayed none of his feelings.

"The muggles? I don't understand…what have they to do with the Magical Community disappearing?" Arthur asked in confusion. Everyone knew that he had a fascination with the muggles. He hoped one day to be able to merge the two communities so that Witches and Wizards could live out in the open and no longer have to hide.

Percy Weasley spoke after looking at the black haired boy and receiving a nod. "The muggles began to hunt once they were sure of our existence. It started with them taking the Wizards and Witches individually, normally muggleborns whose families turned them in. It took a while before we even realized that they were taking Wizards and Witches since the disappearances were so different from anything we had ever seen."

Percy looked a slightly pale as he continued his explanation, though his face remained almost expressionless. "The muggle governments had known of our existence for some time before we were exposed to the general muggle population. They had been preparing their…military, scientists and weapons for quite a while before they attacked. They began by conducting experiments on those captured to see how we had Magic and if they, the muggles, could take it for themselves. When they could not take our Magic for themselves, they started killing everyone they thought may have Magic, whether they did or not. I was working at the Ministry, so I was there when the reports started to come in about the warded Magical areas being destroyed in fire. We soon found out from the muggle-born in the Ministry that they were using muggle bombs and destroying areas that showed up on their satellite images. Apparently they can take pictures of Earth from space, and the pictures are taken from so far away that the wards do not work properly, this is how they knew of our existence. Places they thought were in ruins, showed thriving communities, so they destroyed them when they could not take our magic for themselves. Hogwarts was the last warded place that we knew of."

"It was worldwide, not just limited to our small corner." Percy paused to allow the adults to think about what that actually meant before he continued. "We were not able to communicate with any of the other communities or Ministries since they were being destroyed before we could get a warning to them. We were all that was left of the Magicals in Britain that were not Death Eaters. Their ranks were just as decimated as ours since there was no way to fight or shield against the muggle bombs. Even wards did not work."

Looks of horror were being aimed at the redhead who had spoken as though he was reading a Potions essay for credit. The rest of the teens continued to eat silently while watching the adults at the other side of the table.

"They bombed the Magical world?" Lily whispered. She was one of the few in the Order that truly understood the damage that could be caused by a bomb.

"Yes, Ms. Potter. They did. Needless to say, there is nothing much of interest or anyone we would care to return to." The bushy haired girl answered before popping a bit of a roll in her mouth.

"I see." Albus just sat silently for a moment before deciding that it would probably be for the best if they changed the subject to something less distressing. "I suppose it is a good thing that you were brought to this world then. I see that you are familiar with a few of us. Perhaps introductions are in order. Then maybe we can get you all settled in? " Albus waited until the boy nodded, looking again like he was a king granting a request. "Good. To my left, we have James Potter, his son Jamie who will be going into fifth year. Then we have Lily Potter. They also have a daughter, Rose Marie who is only eight. I am sure that you will see the younger children later. Then we have Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Marlene McKinnon, Poppy Pomfrey, our mediWitch. Next to her we have Nymphadora Tonks, Bill and Charlie Weasley, and then Xenophilius Lovegood and Kingsley Shacklebolt.

Albus watched carefully as he made introductions. The teens on the far side of the table showed no expression at all. Even the Weasley children were unflinching, and he had always found the Weasley family of his world to be very expressive, no matter the situation. Case and point, Molly Weasley was staring at the Weasley children across the table almost desperately. Albus noticed that Xeno was watching the other Luna with almost the same look in his eyes.

"Ahem. On my right we have Severus Snape, our…Potions Master." Albus paused as he watched the boy nod to the man at his right. Looking between the two, he could see Severus had no idea why the boy had singled him out, but Severus nodded back without hesitating. "Ahem, then we have Alastor Moody, Minerva McGonagall, our Transfiguration Professor, Filius Flitwick, who is our Charms Professor. Beside him we have Lucius, Draco, and Narcissa Malfoy." When he introduced the Malfoy family, he was watching carefully for any reaction. Albus gave a silent huff as the teens closest to the boy did not even twitch. The boy had not even blinked. "Beside the Malfoy family, we have Molly, Ronald, and Arthur Weasley, and then Alice and Frank Longbottom."

Albus settled back in his seat and pondered the lack of reactions that the teens had shown during the introductions. He had expected to learn something about the teens as he was introducing his Order members. Instead, he was left feeling like he was trying to get information from Severus. It was possible that the teens were even less forthcoming than his Potions Master.

Thinking that he might learn something from the introduction of the teens, he looked expectantly towards the black haired boy with a twinkle in his blue eyes for the first time in hours. He was slightly excited to finally get some answers from the boy. The boy, however, looked completely relaxed as he stared at the Headmaster. Albus found himself fighting the urge to fidget under the green gaze of the boy before the boy finally flicked his eyes towards the bushy haired girl.

That is all it took, a single glance. Albus was amazed, along with Severus, Alastor and Lucius, who had been watching the boy closely, when the bushy haired girl stood and turned slightly towards them.

"We will start on the end closest to Kings. Oh, Sorry, Mr. Shacklebolt." Severus smirked briefly at the girl's comment and accompanying smirk. She was almost as interesting as the boy. "First we have Terry Boot, then Dennis and Colin Creevey, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, Adrian Pucey, Marcus Flint, Percy Weasley, Lee Jordan, George and Fred Weasley in that order, if you cannot tell. I am Hermione Granger."

Hermione paused as Molly Weasley began to cry at the introduction of three of her lost children. She had known their identities, but hearing their names pushed her over the edge. It finally dawned on her that they existed in _this_ world again.

"Alright, closest to Mr. Longbottom we have Justin Finch-Fletchley, Ernie Macmillan, Millicent Bulstrode, Tracy Davis, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, Padma Patil, Parvati Patil, Lavender Brown, Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood." The girl paused in her introductions very briefly. She looked over and saw Xenophilius staring at the blood girl desperately. Flicking her gaze to the two Longbottoms at the other end of the table, she continued in the same unaffected tone. "And then we have Neville Longbottom."

Alice and Frank Longbottom looked dazed at the revelation that the boy sitting at the black haired boy's left side was Neville Longbottom. They would have never thought that their son could grow up to be such a warrior as the one at the other end of the table. Alice began to cry as she clutched her husband's arm. Frank seemed to be stunned into silence as he looked down the table in the direction of the boy that had been his son in another world.

The tension continued to mount as the members of the Order watched the reactions of Frank and Alice. Everyone's attention was grabbed by the boy they now knew as Neville Longbottom as he stood and turned to face them.

Severus really hoped that the boy would not rush into their arms and blubber in some inane show of Gryffindor emotion. _That would be extremely disappointing._ As all eyes focused on the boy, it seemed that no one other than Severus noticed that the rest of the teens had silently stood and were making their way to the doors of the kitchens by walking around the kitchen versions of the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables. The others were simply too focused on the boy that had been introduced as Neville Longbottom to notice anything that was going on around them.

"I do apologize, but it is quite late and it is time for us to retire. I hope that you can excuse us?" The boy nodded towards the adults as he made his way towards the door without another word.

"I am sorry, we will have to have rooms readied for you, I have not yet had the chance to have that done for you I am afraid, but I am sure that we can place some of you with some of the children already staying here, maybe in some of the dorms." Dumbledore had stood quickly and seemed to be making plans for the teen's accommodations within his mind. "I believe it will be best if we place some of you in the dorms and maybe some of the guest rooms until we can…" The black haired boy interrupted the Headmaster. Albus just blinked at the boy, surprised that the teens had moved so quickly and quietly. They had all reached the door while everyone's attention had turned to the Headmaster as he spoke.

"That won't be necessary Professor. The elves have already prepared the rooms that I requested they make ready for us. They told me of the rooms' readiness only moments before you joined us." All of the teens were already gone from the room, leaving only the black haired boy facing them from his place in the doorway. Neville Longbottom and the girl that introduced herself as Hermione Granger were standing just outside the door, watching silently.

"Oh, I see. Could you tell me where the rooms are located? I will need to know to make sure that wards are functioning properly and to ensure the people within the walls of the castle are as safe as they can be." Albus seemed to be confused as to why he was playing catch up with the boy and not leading the boy as he was used to doing with much older people.

"That would be fine Professor. Our rooms are the unused section of the Slytherin rooms adjacent to Professor Snape's quarters in the dungeons."

"I see, you realize that Professor Snape is keyed into all rooms within the Slytherin domain then?"

"We do."

"Please, let him know if you need anything or run into trouble. Since you have chosen to be in the Slytherin rooms, he will be the closest adult to you. We can get you all sorted and under your final Heads of Houses tomorrow, if you like. All of you will need to take NEWTs in this world, including any that have already graduated. NEWTs will allow them to gain employment and be registered with the Ministry within this world. Will you all be taking mainly your seventh and sixth year classes?" Albus was desperate to keep the boy talking just a little bit longer.

"I have not decided if we will remain at Hogwarts, so there will be no need to sort us tomorrow. However, if we do stay, we will all take seventh year classes. I will let you know as soon as I reach a decision about whether or not we shall stay. I suppose that we will see you at breakfast. Have a good night Professor."

The black haired boy turned to leave the kitchens when Albus finally realized that he still did not know who the boy was. All he knew for sure was that the boy was the leader of the small group and that he was very much like Severus in his manner. Part of him wondered if the boy was actually related to the dour potions master in the other world. Stranger things than Severus having a child could have happened

"One more thing, my boy," Albus watched as the boy paused in the doorway without turning back around. "I am afraid that I did not catch your name." The boy turned his head slightly so that Albus could see his face in profile against the shadows of the hallway.

"How remiss of me, Professor, I apologize. I am Harry Potter."

Before anyone had a chance to react to his introduction, the boy allowed the portrait to swing closed, leaving devastating silence behind.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thank you everyone for your reviews, follows, and favorites and PMs. I am posting this chapter early because I have had such a phenomenal response to this story. The next chapter will be out sometime next week probably and I will probably be updating this story every week or possibly every two weeks depending on how the writing goes. I will continue to post early if a chapter is finished though. If you have any questions, please let me know and I will answer though PM when I can.

Happy Reading

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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

{Parseltongue}

A deafening silence descended on the kitchens after the departure of the black haired boy that had introduced himself as Harry Potter. Suddenly the silence was broken by a sob. Everyone turned to find their gazes from the door the boy had disappeared from to find Lily sitting at the table with tears running down her cheeks as she clutched onto Jamie as though he were her only lifeline. Once the first sob escaped, it was quickly followed by another, and then another until Lily simply could not stop crying.

As Lily sobbed, Jamie sat awkwardly. He had heard about his brother that had been killed as a baby and was in shock that the boy he had been so in awe of, was in fact, the other version of his dead brother. Soon, a crying Alice and Molly made their way over to Lily and pulled her into their arms. For a while, the three mothers just stood and held each other while they cried.

As the women cried, the others sat quietly and thought about the children that they had lost. Xeno sat as still as a statue as he thought about Luna, both the little girl he had lost and the one from another world that he had watched fight Death Eaters and then sit at a table with no trace of the dreaminess he remembered so well. No one said anything to the silent man as tears rolled down his face.

It took a while, but eventually the women were able to regain control of their emotions and make their way back to their seats, where they sat beside their family and wiped their eyes with damp handkerchiefs. "That was my son." Lily whispered. "He…that list was so long. I don't understand how that could have happened."

"I am so sorry my dear." Albus was not quite sure what to say to the woman or to any of the parents, for that matter.

Severus shifted in his seat before he spoke. "I think that we can agree that you were not able to raise him in the world he came from. We know from the list of injuries he sustained that there was a change in his living arrangements."

"But who would do that to a child…my child?" Was the desperate question that was pulled from Lily's lips. It was as though she had to physically force the words to form into a coherent thought.

The room sat in silence again until Albus finally drew the attention back to himself. "The only way to find out is for the boy to tell us. I am sure that he would love to have his family back with him and learn about you…"

Severus interrupted the Headmaster with a scowl. "Do not think that you can treat those…people as children. They will obviously not respond well. The boy has already told you that he has not decided if _they_ will stay or not. You will not want to push him or treat him as though he is a child."

"I am sure that he will decide to stay. Where else will he go?" The Headmaster asked with a twinkle beginning to appear in his eyes. "I am sure that this is the best place for them, surrounded by adults and their families. They will have a chance to enjoy the rest of their childhood."

"Do not be so foolish." Severus said in his slow drawl. "If you think any of them are going to allow you to…dictate to them, you did not see the same things I did. They are not children, they are…warriors. There is no telling what kind of hell they actually survived before they arrived here. I doubt you could keep them here if you tried."

"They are our children though; surely they will listen to us." Alice asked from her position within her husband's arms. She was getting excited at the opportunity to know her son. "They did say that they did not want to go back, after all."

"They did not want to return to the other world, and of course they did not want to go back…they just told us that their world was basically decimated." It took everything Severus had not to roll his eyes at the stupidity that he was hearing.

"Once we get them sorted and settled, I am sure that they will not be so on edge."

Severus shook his head at the Headmaster in disbelief. Finally Alastor decided to step into the conversation and change the subject.

"Albus, where are there wands?"

"Oh, I placed them in a lock box within my office so that only I would be able to retrieve them. I have to admit, I am surprised that they did not ask for their return." Albus answered the question with a smile.

"Let's see them then. I am curious to see if they had mine." Alastor said evenly while glancing at Severus with his good eye. Severus smirked when he realized what the man was doing.

"Of course." Albus waved his wand and summoned a dark brown box. Once the box was settled safely on the table, he spoke the password and opened the lid.

Albus just stared into the box for a few moments before Severus raised one brow and asked. "Well?"

"It is empty." Albus banished the box and sat back in his chair with a perplexed look on his face. "I don't understand."

"How can you not understand? You just told us a few hours ago that the boy was stronger than Merlin and that you would not be able to stand against him in a fight. Did you honestly believe that you could keep his wands from him and his people? Do you honestly believe that you have _any_ say in what they decide to do?"

The harsh questions that Severus posed caused the Headmaster to close his eyes. "I…you are right Severus, forgive me." He looked around the table and made sure that everyone was paying attention. "We must be careful in how we interact with them. I know what I just said, but Severus is right…I was not thinking of them as the fighters that we watched or even as the…young adults…that we just spoke with. I was thinking of them as simply normal children, which they are not. I suggest that we get a good night's sleep and see if we can get any information out of them tomorrow."

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The next morning, Albus arranged for the children that were staying with their parents in the castle to all be served breakfast in one of the many unused classrooms. He and most of the other adults agreed that they did not want the children to hear of anything terrible that had happened in the other world after Lily had told the others that Jamie had suffered from nightmares through the night.

The members of the Order had all sat toward one end of the Gryffindor table again. Most of them took their seats without thinking as their feet carried them along the familiar path. Once they were seated and the food had appeared, they picked at their food while watching the doors to the Great Hall.

When the doors finally opened, all eyes turned to watch as the teens walked in to the Great Hall together. Some of the girls had linked arms and walked in together while most of the boys seemed determined to stand near the girls. Once they were inside the room, the teens stopped and stood silently while the looked around the room, taking in everything.

Harry walked into the room last, with Neville and Hermione walking on either side of him. Once Harry had looked around the room to see where everyone was sitting, he nodded respectively in the general direction of Albus and spoke softly. "Good morning, Professor."

"Good morning to you to, my boy. Please, come and join us. I hope it is not a bother, but we mostly sit together during holidays while the school is mostly empty." Albus had stood from his position at one end of the Gryffindor table and gestured to the seats available at the table with a smile. The elves had already provided a replication of the conjured chair that Harry sat in the night before at the opposite end of the table from Albus.

Seeing the seating arrangement for the adults was practically the same as the night before, the teens simply claimed seats in the same order that they had used the night before. Once they were seated, they slowly began to load their plates with small servings of the blandest breakfast foods available while keeping silent.

"I hope that you had a good night and that you were able to get some rest? I imagine that you would have been exhausted after the day that you had." Albus noticed that all the teens paused when he mentioned them getting rest. "Since you did not want to be sorted yet, can you tell us a little more about your world? We think we have a general time-frame for your world, but we would like to make sure that we are not assuming anything that is incorrect."

Harry Potter looked over the rim of the cup of tea that he was holding and stared at the Headmaster across the table. "What timeline is it that you want to confirm?"

"Ah, well, from what we can gather, we think that the fighting broke out in earnest in your world about a year ago?" When Albus saw the looks that he was receiving from the teenagers across the table, he glanced around the table in surprise. "From your expressions, I can tell that I am already in error."

"Excuse me Professor, where did you come up with this timeline?" Hermione asked while looking at the headmaster with a frown.

Albus hesitated before he produced a scroll in his hand. "We were using this. It is a comprehensive, as comprehensive as possible, medical report for Harry Potter." Albus paused as the teenagers gave him their undivided attention for once instead of concentrating on their plates. "We were trying to determine years by judging the types of injuries that could be obtained while you were here at Hogwarts."

"I see. Can you pass that down?" Hermione said with a tight expression on her face. Albus only hesitated a moment before passing the scroll down the table. Once it reached the girl, she stared at it for a few moments before slowly unrolling in such a way that the parts that had already been read were already rolling back up. "I see." She looked over and stared at the boy beside her for a few tense moments before turning her attention back to the Headmaster. "I believe I know where the confusion came from. You were assuming that injuries of a non-magical nature were during the summers."

"Yes, that is correct. Although, the second instance of exposure to Dementors in what I assumed was summer between fourth and fifth year was confusing."

"I am sure that it was, professor." The girl had gone back to staring at the boy while the rest of the teens sat tensely in their seats.

The boy at the end of the table finally pulled his attention away from Hermione and stared at the adults sitting at the other side of the table. The silence grew as he stared silently with no expression showing on his face while Hermione put the scroll into the beaded bag she had hanging from her wrist.

"I suppose that I can correct the information you have.' Harry finally spoke softly. "The fighting in our world broke out before last year, unfortunately. It would probably be best if I just give you a brief timeline for our world instead of trying to answer your questions. Will that be alright?"

While the adults nodded, the teens all pushed their plates away and sat tensely while staring at the table.

"Alright then. I am sure that you know that I was hit with a killing curse when I was a baby since you have read my…medical report?" Again the adults nodded. Severus just sat silently while he stared at the boy. He knew that he was about to find out that things were much worse in the other world than they had believed. "Well, according to Hermione here, that was the first time that Magic interfered in my life. Needless to say, I did not die. However, from what we understand, Magic not only saved my life, but she punished Voldemort by destroying his body and causing him to live as a disembodied…thing…for a while.."

A few of the adults gasped while most of them simply stared at the boy at the other end of the table in shock.

"The Albus Dumbledore of our world decided that Voldemort must have done something to tie his soul to the earth. A piece of Magic called a Horcrux. It was supposed to be where someone split their soul and actually leave pieces of it laying around. Unfortunately, he was wrong in his supposition since a soul is something that cannot be used in that manor. He thought that the dark magic that surrounded me and a few objects that he had found was the mark of a Horcrux. So, believing that Voldemort was immortal due to a myth he failed to research properly, he placed me with my muggle relatives while telling everyone that it was the safest place for me. He thought that I was a Horcrux and that I would needed to allow Voldemort to kill me in order for him to be able to kill Voldemort."

Harry paused as Albus paled and placed a hand over his mouth in disbelief. No one on his side of the table knew what to say as they looked from the boy to the Headmaster and back again.

"During my first year, our world's version of Albus Dumbledore decided to set a trap within Hogwarts for the disembodied Voldemort. He sat up a series of challenges to protect the Philosophers Stone in the hopes that I would be able to complete the challenges and face Voldemort again and make him mortal."

While most of the adults looked like they would be sick, Severus pushed away from the table to stand facing the raised platform that held the Teachers table at the back of the room.

"Unfortunately, Voldemort used the teacher he was possessing and tried to kill me before he went after the stone. While I again survived, he was able to get the stone and regain his body. That was the end of the first year." Severus turned just enough so that he could see the boy as he paused. "After a summer with my relatives, again for my safety, I returned for my second year. During the last Quidditch game of the year, Voldemort entered the castle through a secret entrance and released the Basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets. He led the Basilisk to the Quidditch field before he left and the Basilisk killed half of the student body and a majority of the parents that had come to witness the match. Professor Flitwick was able to hit the eyes of the Basilisk with a Conjunctivitis Curse before he died. I tried to distract the snake as much as possible by flying in front of it and keeping its attention on my by yelling. It followed me back to the school where I was able to grab a pike staff from one of the suits of armor. The Basilisk bit me as I rammed the staff through the roof of its mouth."

Harry stopped and looked over at the four Weasley siblings that sat on his side of the table to see that they were pale and un-moving. He glanced quickly around to check on the rest of those that were most affected by that day, and found them in the same state. "Some of those that died that day were Professors Flitwick and McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey, Mr. and Ms. Davis, Johnson, Patil, and Weasley."

It took a few moments before Harry continued. He sat quietly as he watched the other teens as they sat quietly. Lily, Narcissa, Alice and Molly were crying silently while leaning against their husbands. Xenophilius was staring at the wall and blinking constantly. Most of the other adults were lost in their own thoughts as they processed what they had heard. Severus had turned so that he could watch the teens with no nothing blocking his view from where he stood. He was the only one that noticed that the teens that had lost their parents that day all gave a small nod to Harry before he continued.

"After second year, our world's version of Professor Dumbledore began to fight Voldemort out in the open with a few people that were brave enough to fight him and his Death Eaters. It was a duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort that was seen by the muggles. Professor Dumbledore was killed and we were exposed. The Ministry did not know about that the muggles were already aware of us at first, and so Wizarding Britain continued on as though nothing had changed. That was when people started to disappear."

"During my third year, school was much different. Most of the teachers were dead, as was the Headmaster. The Ministry began to send in employees to teach the classes. During this time, Voldemort freed everyone that had been incarcerated at Azkaban, including Sirius Black, who we later found out had been put in Azkaban without a trial. I found out that he was my Godfather and met him briefly during third year, along with his friend Remus Lupin, but they were killed by Death Eaters only weeks later. Voldemort had released the Dementors from Azkaban, probably thinking that he could control them, only for them to begin to breed and wonder around unfettered. One was able to get through the wards on the school and kissed more students and some of the Ministry employees that were acting as our teachers."

"Fourth year, the Ministry placed Dolores Umbridge at the school. She hated anyone muggle-born, and so decided to torture anyone that was not a pure-blood with blood quills under the guise of writing lines in detention. By that point, there were so few adults within the school that there was no one really to complain to. Professor Snape provided everyone with Murtlap Essence and Dittany. It was the end of fourth year, when we were boarding the train to return to London that Voldemort attacked the school. I am not even sure how many never made it to the train, but that was the second time I ever encountered an Acromantula. Voldemort had found the nest and they had agreed to attack the students with him for some reason. The fighting attracted the Dementors, who kissed some more students as well as Umbridge. About a week later, I received a letter letting me know that Hogwarts would not reopen in September. The first bombing had happened at O'Connell Alley in Ireland."

"It was a few days later that I ran away from my muggle relatives. I overheard them talking about the money they would receive for turning me over to the scientists. I decided that I would go to Hermione's. Instead, I found her at the bus stop in the next town over, she had a similar experience with her mum giving her some money and telling her to leave before her dad turned her in and had decided to come and find me. After spending a night in a random town that I don't even remember the name of, we decided that we should start looking in on the other muggle-born students we knew."

"We had about four others that were traveling with us by the time we went after the Creeveys in late August. It took a while to find their home town since there were so many Creeveys listed. When we got close to the town, we found Colin and Dennis tied to stakes in a field with a small crowd around them. Their family and neighbors had decided that they would burn them a stake while using their belongings as fuel for the fire."

Harry paused again, but this time he was looking towards the two smaller boys. The adults were mostly just sitting in shock, unable to express their shock and horror anymore. Severus continued to stand silently, slightly behind the pale and shaking Headmaster.

"They had already lit the fires by the time we were close enough to begin fighting the muggles. I think there were only about fifteen, but there were only six of us at that time. We would not have managed had Professor Snape not shown up."

Harry had the full attention of every adult in the room now that he had mentioned Severus.

"He was able to stun the rest of the adults and put out the fires. He put the Creeveys in a deep sleep so that they would not feel the burns as we moved them, and then he then took us to another town, where he and the few Magicals he had found were staying. He had found an abandoned farmhouse that was far enough into the woods that most people did not remember its existence and had been searching for any surviving students as well. We stayed there while we healed the Creeveys. It took two months to heal the burns because it was so hard to get ingredients for potions."

"Up until the battle you witness and our arrival here, our time was spent mostly hiding from muggles and Death Eaters while looking for surviving Magicals. Sometimes we would end up fighting, but mostly we were trying to find a way to survive. We eventually had about forty teens in our group. Severus was with us for over a year, before he was killed six months ago. He was the last adult that any of us saw that was not a muggle or Death Eater."

Harry fell silent again as the adults processed the information slowly. After looking around and checking on each of the teens that sat at his end of the table, Harry looked up and met the gaze of the Potions Master. They continued to stare silently at each other until Albus cleared his throat, pulling everyone's attention towards him.

"Ahem. Well. I don't know what else to say other thank I am sorry for what you have had to go through and I am glad that you no longer are in that world. It is horrible that you had to face so much while so young." He still looked pale and shaky. "I hope that you will have a chance to have a normal life here and experience things that you missed out on in the other world. Obviously our worlds are vastly different. I hope that will offer you some comfort. You even have the opportunity to connect with the counter parts of the family that you lost in your world." While Albus did not notice the slight stiffening of the teens across the table, most of the parents did, as did Severus. "I dare say, with the experience that you showed yesterday, the War with Voldemort will be over in…"

Albus came to a sudden stop when the girl with the long blond braid, Lavender Brown if he was not mistaken, stood up abruptly.

"How dare you? How dare you ask us…ask Harry to…" She stood breathing hard from her place at the table. The adults were just looking at the girl in shock. They had not expected any outburst from any of the silent teens. She turned her attention to Harry. "Mine is no, Harry." With that last comment she walked from the room at a fast pace. She was quickly followed by one of the Patil girls and Marcus Flint, who both muttered soft no's in Harry's direction as they left the room. Albus just stared at the teens in confusion.

Harry shook his head slightly. "All those in agreement with Lavender that we continue with our original plan?" All of the teens that were left in the room said soft yes's and nodded their heads. "Alright, why don't you guys follow Lavender and start making lists. Go on now, Neville will stay with me."

The rest of the teens filed out of the room without looking back at the adults. Adrian Pucey moved over so that he was sitting in the seat that Hermione had occupied while Neville remained in his seat.

"Apologies Professor if you thought otherwise, but we will not be fighting in your war."

"I don't understand, surely you know that Lord Voldemort is a threat…not only to us but to you now as well?"

"Of course he is…to you. However, he is not our concern; he is simply a rabid dog that needs to be put down." Harry ignored the shocked looks he was receiving. "Ms. Potter," Harry pretended that he did not see the flinch she gave at the formal address, but he simply did not know what else to call her. "Have the muggles made it to the moon in this world?" When she nodded in confusion he continued. "Have the made their internet yet? Yes…then the muggles are already aware of your existence." He shook his head at the disbelief that he saw on the faces before him. "I don't think that you really understand. We have spent the last few years, running while trying to find a way to _survive_. We have no desire to die while fighting a pointless war that is founded on blood purity. The only priority I have, is the survival of my people, and we are down to twenty-five now. If you want to waste your time and fight other Magicals, that is for you to decide, but we have already made our decision. If you will excuse us, we need to get back to the others now."

Harry stood and left the room with Adrian and Neville walking on either side of him, once again leaving silence in his wake.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thank you again for the reviews. I am continually amazed at the response that this story is getting. I appreciate every review, favorites, and follows. I finished another chapter so I decided to post it early. :) hope that you guys enjoy.

Special thinks to jinx for pointing out a mistake so that it could be corrected. You are much appreciated.

As always, if you have any questions, please let me know and I will respond though PM.

Happy Reading

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

{Parseltongue}

Once Harry and the two boys that had stayed with him had left the room, everyone stayed quiet for a few moments while looking around blankly. Severus had started pacing along the edge of the platform that led to the teacher's table.

"Ahem. I see that Severus was correct in his assessment of the teens. They went through so much more than I ever expected." Albus spoke quietly into the silence, seemingly lost in thought.

"More than you expected?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"Albus, I think that is a bit of an understatement." Remus spoke quietly from his seat beside Sirius while Albus just nodded his agreement.

"They have been alone for so long. No wonder the boy looks at Severus the way he does…" As Narcissa spoke, Lucius was watching Severus as he paced back and forth behind the Headmaster.

"They act nothing like our children would."

"Of course they don't Alice." Alice looked up in shock at the sharp remark from James. He had not said anything about the teens before, but looked as though there were a storm cloud brewing behind his eyes. "Our children have never had to run and hide from the world while homeless at the age of fourteen, thirteen in some of their cases. Our children have never been hunted like animals, or experimented on, or burned at the stake. How on Earth could they act like our children?" Lily wiped at her cheeks when a few tears escaped as her husband talked about what the teens had been through. Xenophilius stood abruptly and moved away from the table with his back turned to the others.

"I…you are right James. I just can't believe that they had to go through all that. It sounds…" Alice just shook her head as Frank drew her closer and rubbed her back. "He was so cold when he said that He-Who-Must-Not–Be-Named should be put down like a rabid dog. It is so hard to imagine anyone would think like that."

"I am not sure that the boy is incorrect." Everyone stared at Albus incredulously after he spoke.

"What?" The question came from a blinking Frank, who was looking at the Headmaster as though he had grown a second head.

"We have always been careful to avoid killing Lord Voldemort's followers when possible, and I think that was the right thing to do with the information that we had. But, they continue to break out and come back in larger numbers. We have had almost no effect on Lord Voldemort himself and we have been fighting for so long and have lost so much that I am simply not sure that I should continue to insist that you disable only when there could be a larger threat coming." Albus looked around gravely. "My methods could be putting us at greater risk."

"Their world…that would never happen here, would it? He was wrong, right? The muggles can't know about us." Tonks was looking towards Lily in desperation, fear evident in her eyes.

Lily just looked at the table with a frown as she thought about what she knew of the technology available to the muggles. "I don't…the muggles do have satellites in space that can take pictures of the Earth, and even the moon and other planets. If the satellites are able see what is normally hidden by wards, then yes. It is possible that they already know." Lily paused as she looked up at Albus. "Or at the very least, their governments already know about us."

"How would we even begin to fight that?" Lucius asked while looking towards the silent Headmaster. "I have never considered the muggles to be a serious threat, but I was not aware they could destroy our wards or that they would start the Witch Hunts back up."

"I don't know, Lucius. Honestly, I am not sure what to think. Part of me feels that we should focus on Lord Voldemort and stopping him. I admit, I thought Lord Voldemort could be defeated easily with those teens on our side. I have never seen anyone fight like they did. I cannot fault them for deciding not to fight though…I should never have expected them to do so. On the other hand…I too have never considered the muggles as a threat. To be honest, I have no idea where to even begin with planning…anything…on that front. It is just something I never considered. To think that they are now more a threat than Voldemort has my mind…disordered. Harry…Harry was talking about the survival of his people…of Magic. That is something that we have never faced, even in the times that Witches and Wizards were hunted before we never faced the total annihilation of Magic. We have always been safe behind our wards."

"Harry said something about sticking to their original plan…when they voted…he said 'continue with our original plan.' Maybe we should find out what that is?" Remus looked around to see thoughtful looks on the others faces.

"That is a good idea, Remus. Severus. I think that you would probably be the best to approach them. It is clear that you will be the person they connect to most in this world." Albus turned so that he could look at the still silent Potions Master.

Severus just stared back at the Headmaster for a few minutes. "I will look in on them tonight. I think it is best to give them some space for the day."

"You are probably right. Thank you Severus." Albus turned back to the table to look at the lost faces in front of him. "In the meantime, I think we could all use a day to think about what we want to do. If we are to make changes in our planning and our actions against Voldemort and his followers, I would rather we are in accord. Now, I hope you all will excuse me, but I think I will head back to my quarters and try and get my thoughts in order."

Albus left the Great Hall as the others watched in silence. Severus swept out of the room with his robes billowing not long after the Headmaster left.

After a few moments, Narcissa began to speak. "I think I will go back to our rooms. I will see you all at Dinner; I think we will take Lunch as a family today." When she rose from the table, Lucius immediately rose and walked with her from the room. Soon everyone else followed, planning to go back to their rooms or to wander around the grounds while they thought about the teens and what their future might hold.

Harry walked through the halls of Hogwarts with Adrian and Neville keeping pace beside him. He already knew that the others had not returned to their rooms, as they had mentioned going to the Room of Requirement that morning. When they reached the seventh floor, Neville quickly paced across the hall three times, causing a large ornate door to appear on the wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls ballet.

As they walked into the room, they found the others sitting on couches around the room, talking softly as they made lists, traded ideas, and just talked to each other. Lavender was sitting between Hermione and Parvati and laughing over something one of them had said. Harry smiled as he watched the girl laugh, before he and the other two boys made their way to the empty seats around the room.

"Everything alright?" Harry asked while claiming the seat across from Hermione. Neville was able to sit beside him while Adrian claimed a seat near Luna and Ginny.

"Yes Harry. We are okay." Hermione sent a smile. She looked at him closely for a minute. "What about you? Did he try and push?" She was well aware of the plans that their world's version of Albus Dumbledore had for him and was worried that this version would be just as manipulative.

"No. He listened along with the rest, but that could have been shock, I guess. Either way, he knows where we stand on the fight with Voldemort, so if he starts to push, we will just leave." The others all nodded and looked relived. "Anyone have any ideas yet?"

"Well, I was thinking," Hermione was worrying her lower lip as she spoke. "I think that we should all carry pouches with a portion of our supplies. I know that I have kept everything in my bag since…well…forever, but if something had happened to me and I got left behind, or died, you would have been stuck here with nothing." She looked around at the others before continuing. "I know that we thought it was better to keep everything together in one place, but I just can't get over the fact that we could have been separated."

"I guess that is a good point. Do you think you can make other bags?" Harry asked.

"I can. I could probably do better on the newer bags now that I understand the spells better than I did in third year when I made this one in Kingsley's class. I would probably remake mine too so that there was more space inside. I think that there are some protection spells that can be placed on them so that we can key in who opens them and maybe ways to recall bags that get misplaced or taken. I would have to research the spells, but that will be simple with us staying in the school."

"I can help with the research. I think that there are spells like that on the money bags that the Goblins provide." Tracy said with a smile.

"I should be able to help there too. I remember the spells that the Goblins used, I think. I can at least get us pointed in the right direction." Adrian said with a thoughtful look. He had begun training as a Curse Breaker with the Goblins before everything had fallen apart in their world.

"Speaking of the Goblins, is there any chance that the information they gave will be true for this world?" Harry looked around at the others before locking gazes with Hermione.

"I don't know, Harry. It is possible, but the only way to find out would be to look for it or ask the Goblins of this world. If it is not here, then we could always ask them if there are any locations that where we could safely build a new home. I think that we would have enough with the money and valuables that Marcus, Adrian, Draco, and Millicent took from their houses and vaults."

"It might be better to just start somewhere else anyway." Everyone looked towards Percy as he spoke. "If it is here, the Ministry would probably say that it belongs to them as they are the closest Ministry of Magic around. I don't know if it would be a good thing to live under their influence again, especially if they are anything like the Ministry from our world."

"What if we became our own Ministry?" Neville blushed as everyone started to blink in his direction. "I mean, what if we became our own Nation. I remember something about a tribe in Africa that petitioned the ICW or something…"

Perch jumped out of his seat and began pacing as he thought. "Yes! I remember that. They found a magical tribe that had been secluded from the other people of Africa because of the mountain they lived on, and the tribe petitioned to remain separate from the existing Ministry because of political differences. They were granted their own Ministry and were recognized as their own Magical Nation. That actually could work if they actually granted the request. We are from another world and have different political views from Magical Britain, and we have no wish to be part of an ongoing war happening here. That may be a great idea."

"You want us to become our own Nation?" Harry looked at Percy in disbelief.

"It is a good idea, Harry." Luna smiled from her seat. "That is pretty much what we were thinking about when we were thinking about building somewhere else…we would end up being our own community. This would just be official."

"If it does not work, we can still disappear and see if the Goblins will help us. They are more interested in money anyway, so they would not care if we were trying to hide from the Magical governments of this world or not."

"Alright. New Nation. Percy, do you want to write up an official request? You are the one with the most Ministry experience." Harry asked as Percy regained his seat.

"Sure Harry. I will need to know what to put as the name of our Nation though." The group was silent for a few minutes as they thought about possible names that were suitable for a Nation.

"What about Avalon?" Millicent said with a smile as everyone looked at her with thoughtful expressions. "Oh come on, part of this world or not, we are still British. Avalon would be perfect. The home of Magic."

"That sounds beautiful, Millicent." Hermione had a dreamy smile on her face as she thought about the name.

"Avalon, yeah, I can see that being a great name for us, and our new home when we settle. All those that want to name our new Nation and home Avalon?" Harry looked around as everyone nodded and said yes happily. "Well then, Percy, looks like it will be Avalon. Now we just need to find a new home, and become an actual Nation. No pressure." The room laughed at the look on Harry's face.

"Don't worry Harry. It will be fine." Adrian said from his seat beside Luna and Ginny. "If you think about it, we have been operating like a small nation for a while now. Making it official will not change much, but it will make the long term plans go a little easier."

Harry just nodded his thanks. "Alright. What is next?"

"Well, since we are in the Room of Requirement already, we can start sorting through the stuff that is in the Room of Lost Things. I am sure that we can find new bags and trunks, as well as a lot of things that will come in handy later." Everyone nodded as Hermione spoke.

"I am guessing that is what everyone wants to do next?" When everyone stood and moved towards the wall, Harry smiled and joined them. "Neville, you are the best at manipulating the room while it is occupied, so you better take care of this. Try and make is so that there is a large empty space on the side of the room that we are standing on so that there is room to summon things to us."

Neville nodded and watched as everyone lined up against the wall so that they were out of the way. Once everyone was still, he closed his eyes and focused on the room of lost things, with a large open space on the side of the room that he was standing. When he opened his eyes, he sighed at the sight of the room. It looked like it was even larger than the one in their world, and it was packed with junk.

"This should be fun." Ginny's sarcastic comment made the rest of the teens laugh.

"What do we need to summon first?" Harry looked towards Hermione with one brow raised.

"What if we take something that someone placed here recently?" Luna asked quietly.

Thinking for a moment, Harry raised his wand and called out. "Accio stuff that has been placed in here over the last fifty years." Nothing moved. "Accio stuff that has been placed in here over the last one hundred years." Again nothing moved. "Accio stuff that has been placed in here over the last one hundred and fifty years." Suddenly, three books and a cauldron flew through the air to crash against a hastily drawn shield from Harry. He looked around with a smile. "I don't think that anyone will be coming to claim anything they have left behind, Luna."

Luna smiled at Harry as she nodded her thanks at his double checking that they would not be taking anything belonging to anyone alive."

"Trunks should be first. That way we have things to store the rest of the stuff in. Once we have the trunks packed, they can be shrunk and stored in my bag until I have a chance to make new bags for everyone. We may even find some trunks with multiple compartments or even a Library Trunk." Hermione's eyes glazed over at the thought of a trunk that could hold limitless amounts of books while keeping a running inventory of its contents. She had found a catalog for the different types of trunks that were available in the other world and had been dreaming of them since then.

"Shields up then, we don't want to get bludgeoned to death by trunks." Harry waited until everyone had cast their shields and overlapped them for protection before he raised his own wand. "Accio Trunks." Harry said firmly. He winced as some of the piles of junk collapsed as trunks were dislodged from underneath centuries of lost items. Soon the trunks were crashing against the shields and falling to the floor. "Well then. Shall we?" Harry pulled the nearest trunk to a clear space and opened it to see if it had anything in it and to check its condition. Soon the others were going through and checking trunks as well.

Hermione was disappointed to find that there had been no Library Trunks in the Room, but she was pacified when Lavender told her that she knew a spell that could keep inventory in a compartment. She had learned it during her second year to keep track of what types of makeup she had. Choosing the three largest trunks that they could access, two with five compartments and one with seven compartments, and each compartment having an expanded space, they cast the inventory spell and sat them to one side for books. The rest of the trunks were sat against the wall so that they could choose one whenever they summoned something new.

"What do we do with these?" Colin asked as he kicked one of the trunks that they had been unable to get into.

"Well, there is no telling how long they have been in here, and since they are locked with blood and password spells, I don't think anyone else would be able to use them either. I would say that we either banish or destroy them, and any of the unusable things we come across." Marcus was looking at the trunk with pursed lips.

"It takes less energy to banish them." As Harry spoke, the others nodded and pulled their wands back out. Soon the pile of trunks that was unusable had been banished and the floor was once again clear and ready for the next item. "What is next?"

"Books!" Hermione said with a smile. "But can you summon them by year? No! Summon them by topic that way each subject will be together and much easier to sort." Hermione ignored the smiles that the others sent her way as she decided on the best way to summon the books.

After they had summoned and sorted through all the books that related to school subjects, they summoned the rest of the books that were hidden in the Room and placed them in separate compartments that they would sort through later. They continued to summon various things to sort through and then would banish anything that was damaged or unusable.

They found enough bags that they each be able to carry one for themselves. They found Galleons, Sickles and Knuts that had been forgotten. Toiletries, jewelry and brooms were found as were playing cards and old muggle board games. Neville was excited when he found a large sack that had been expanded and held nothing but packets of seeds that were under preservation charms. A few wands were found and placed with the rest of their spare wands in Hermione's bag. Each of them found enough clothes that they would not have to worry about shopping for a while. By the time the room was empty, they were all exhausted and hungry.

"I can't believe that we got through everything in the room." Hermione said as she looked around while some of the others were shrinking the trunks they had filled with everything imaginable. They even had five trunks that were filled with shrunken furniture.

"I don't think we would have if George had not had the idea to summon everything that was hopelessly ruined and broken beyond the help of Magic. That took out more than half of the room." Harry was stooped over as he picked up shrunken trunks before handing them to Hermione so that she could place them in her bag. "We still have a few empty trunks. Do you have any plans for those?"

"You know me Harry. I want to see if I can copy any of the books in the Library. I will have to find a charm for that though." Harry smiled and rubbed Hermione's shoulder as she placed the last of the trunks in her bag. "If we have to ask the Goblins to build for us, I don't know that we would have enough left over to buy books, or the other things we will need. We never asked how much it would cost to build."

"It will work out, Mione. One way or another, it will work out." Harry looked at her with a smile, knowing that she was worried about losing their heritage even if they managed to find a safe haven. It was something she worried about all the time. "It is more than likely that it is here. And hey, don't forget the books and things that Marcus, Draco, Millicent and Adrian got for you, not to mention the things we found in the Room today; we won't be left with nothing."

"Thanks Harry. I am tired." Hermione looked around with a sigh and could see the exhaustion on the faces of the other teens. "Let's just have dinner in our rooms and go to bed early, alright?" The rest of the teens murmured their agreements before they filed out of the Room of Requirement and made their way back to their rooms.

Once they were back in their rooms, they had the elves provide them with sandwiches and some vegetables. Once they had all eaten and the food had been cleared away, they took turns using the showers and facilities, before falling into their beds in exhaustion. Most of them were asleep before their heads hit their pillows.

An hour later, Severus came to a stop in front of the entrance that led to the previously unused portion of the Slytherin dorms. They had been unused for centuries because the dorm rooms were too small for the amount of children that were coming through the school. Thinking back, Severus thought they would have worked fine for the amount of students that they had been seeing recently, they simply had not thought to change the dorms to the smaller rooms.

Taking a deep breath and clearing his mind, Severus opened the door and walked into the rooms that the teens had claimed as their own, only to stand in shock as the door closed behind him.

The elves had obviously changed the structure of the room since it was now one large room that had couches in the middle of the floor and doors leading to what he would assume were bathrooms along the right wall. It was the other two walls that caused the normally stoic man to blink in shock.

In the corner where the back wall and the wall on the left met, there was a king sized mattress. Against the two sides of the bed that were not pressed against the wall, were more mattresses, each one pressed together with what he assumed was a binding charm. The end result was that the back and left walls of the room served as one large headboard for one very large L-shaped bed.

Looking at the beds closely, Severus could see that the teens were all curled into one another in various piles, with the largest pile of sleeping teens lying on the mattress in the corner. Everyone seemed to have their own blankets and pillows that they were almost buried under.

As he looked around, he finally met the amused gaze of Harry Potter. Harry had been leaning against the wall as he thought about their day when Severus had entered the room. Looking down at Hermione, who was sprawled across his chest, he sighed and gently rolled her over to the side so that he could get out of the bed without waking her up. Hermione just made a snuffling sound in her sleep before she snuggled up to Luna, who had been sleeping on her other side.

"Hello Professor." Harry said as he climbed out of the bed, dressed in a pair of pajama pants that matched the shirt Hermione was wearing. Harry gestured to one of the couches as he sat down, inviting the Potions Master to join him.

Severus sat down while looking at the black haired boy with one brow rose. "I am almost afraid to ask why you have all decided to make one very large bed instead of sleeping in dorm rooms." Severus was relieved to see that the boy was more relaxed than he had been in the Great Hall that morning.

"Nothing to worry about, Professor." Harry gave a sad smile as he looked around at the sleeping teens. "Most of the places we found to stay in for the last couple of years was abandoned factories or warehouses with large opens space and not a lot of room for privacy. We got used to sleeping together. It also helps some when we have nightmares, which most of us have. It doesn't happen as often anymore, but there are still some nights that we all have a nightmare. So we just felt that we would stick together, at least for a while."

"Ah. I suppose that does make sense." Severus looked around again, this time with a frown. "It is a shame that so many of you suffer from nightmares. I hope that they one day are not an issue anymore."

"Thank you." Harry said softly as he pulled a pillow towards him so that he could lean on it as he watched Severus.

"And Ms. Brown, how is she?" Severus turned his attention back to Harry.

"She is fine. I think we all are." Harry shrugged. "Or at least we will be."

Severus was not sure what to say to the boy sitting beside him. "Albus thought that you might feel more comfortable talking to me rather than him, but if you like…"

"No, it is fine. He was right. All of us would probably be able to talk to you easier than the others for a while." Harry was quick to reassure the uncomfortable man beside him.

"The other version of me…you were close?" Severus was proud that his voice betrayed none of the confusion of nervousness he felt at the question. He simply did not understand what roll the other version had filled for these teens.

"Vary. When he found us, we were completely lost and surviving on sheer luck. We only had a good three, possibly three and a half years of Magical education and were petrified all the time that the muggles would find us. We had no clue what we should have been doing. He took care of us, taught us…quite frankly, he was like our dad." Harry smiled sadly when he saw the look on Severus's face. "I think he had that same look on his face the first time Luna called him Dad, actually. You have to understand, he was there when we were hurt, there when we were scared and when we had nightmares. He died making sure that everyone was out of the warehouse we had been staying in after the muggles found us again. He was shot after he had gone back for Tracy, who had twisted her ankle. He pushed her through the window to me, and then he was gone. We haven't really dealt with that yet." Harry just stared at the Potions Master as he talked. "It is good to see that you are still alive in this world. It hurts a little less, I guess."

"Does it bother them to see the alternate versions of their parents…of your parents?"

"Not as much. Most of them have been without parents for at least two years, if not more. Neville and I have never known ours. It is stranger to see them alive in this world than anything. They look like our parents, but we know that they are not. I guess we have just resigned ourselves to their being gone, so we don't really know what to do with the versions that are here…does that make sense?" When Severus just stared at him in confusion he continued. "It's like this, I see Lily Potter looking at me with this look in her eyes. It is as though she wants to hug me and feed me candy while telling me everything is going to be alright…I just don't know what to do with that. I don't really need a mum to tell me it's going to be okay anymore."

"I see. Will the others be bothered if they wake-up to find me in here?"

"No." Harry gave a soft laugh as he looked around. "While we had all resigned ourselves to not really having parents, the other version of you was there when no one else was. None of us are used to the fact that he died and will probably have a hard time not seeing you in the same way we saw him. I know I find it just as easy to talk to you as it was to talk to him. Quite frankly, I think it is only fair to warn you that if you ever fall asleep in here, you will more than likely wake-up at the bottom of a dog pile." Severus just looked at the boy in horror at the thought of waking up under a pile of bodies, causing Harry to laugh again. Strangely enough, Severus did not mind that the boy was laughing at him, he was just glad to see that the boy was still able to laugh. "Like I said, it is very easy to see you as the same Severus Snape that has taken care of us. You have the same…feel…about you that the other version of you had. The others will probably feel the same."

"I have the same feel?" Severus finally drawled.

"Not sure how else to explain it. I know my magic is different than other peoples, but it feels the same. You feel the same. Like…I don't know…safe maybe?" Harry had a far of look in his eyes as he tried to analyze his feelings and the way his magic felt about Severus. He finally gave a small shrug and smiled at Severus. "You just feel like you."

Severus felt oddly happy that the boy was able to feel safe around him, though he wanted to know more about his Magic being able to 'feel' people. He decided that was something they could get into later. "You know, you gave Albus a lot to think about this morning." Harry just nodded without speaking. "Actually, you gave all of us a lot to think about. We have never considered that the muggles would be more of a threat than Lord Voldemort."

"I can imagine."

"You said something this morning about a plan that you already come up with…would you mind telling me your plans? None of us really have any idea of where to begin when making plans to deal with a threat coming from the muggles."

Harry smiled at the question before he began to tell the Potions Master of the plan that they had come up with. Severus sat for hours listening to Harry explain, not even bothering to try and hide his incredulous expression.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thank for the reviews. The response that this story is getting is absolutely amazing. I cannot believe that there are already over 100 reviews, over 200 favs, and over 300 alerts for this story. I appreciate every review, favorite, and follow that you guys submit. I am sorry that it took so long for me to update, but things are picking up at work and my writing time is going to be a little bit strained. i will continue to update as soon as a chapter is ready.I hope that you guys enjoy.

Special thinks to jinx for pointing out a mistake so that it could be corrected. You are much appreciated.

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Happy Reading

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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

{Parseltongue}

When Severus entered the Great Hall the next morning, just after eight o'clock, he found that most of the Order was already present and sitting at the table silently. Everyone looked up when they heard the door open, but quickly turned their eyes back to their plates when they saw that it was the Potions Master that had entered and not any of the teens. Severus stalked across the room with his robes billowing as he made his way to his seat on the right side of Dumbledore.

"Good morning, Severus." Albus greeted Severus as he took his seat.

Looking closely at his mentor, Severus could see that Albus had not slept much the night before. He looked tired, his eyes only managing a slight twinkle as he spoke. "Good morning, Headmaster." Looking around, he could see that none of the adults present looked as though they had much rest. "Is this going to be everyone today?"

"Yes. Kingsley, Nymphadora, Marlene, and Alistair needed to go into work today. I will make sure to let them know what we discussed today once they return. They all were planning on returning as early as they could."

"I see." Severus drawled as he prepared himself a cup of coffee.

"Did you speak to them last night, Severus?" Lily asked quietly from across the table.

As she looked at him beseechingly, Severus could see a little bit of what Harry was trying to explain to him the night before. Even he would have hard time coping if he was suddenly faced with another version of his mother after having accepted her death so long ago. Severus cleared his throat before he spoke.

"I did." Since he was not sure what else he should say he busied himself with his cup of coffee.

"Oh." Lily pushed her eggs around on her plate.

After a few moments, Narcissa spoke up. "Were they settled in alright, Severus?"

"They looked to be comfortable. I was able to speak with Harry for quite a while as the others slept." Severus thought about telling the others about the way the teens had their rooms set up, but changed his mind as he thought about the possible reactions he might receive from the women of the order. He did not think that they would like the fact that the teens all slept in the same room; he could only imagine their reactions to learning that they all slept in the same beds.

"Were you able to find out what they were planning, Severus?" Albus looked over the top of his glasses at the Potions Master, the curiosity shining in his eyes causing the twinkle to brighten momentarily.

"I did. They definitely have a plan." He honestly was glad that Harry had said that he would be willing to explain everything to the order. "After he explained it to me, Harry said that he was willing to share the plan with everyone this morning. I don't think I would be able to explain, but they definitely have a plan." Severus took another long sip of his coffee as he ignored the questioning glances that he was receiving from everyone at the table.

"Is there anything that you can share about them before they arrive?" James placed a comforting hand on Lily's shoulder as he asked his question.

Thinking about the night before, Severus wondered what he could tell them that would be of any use to either the Order members or the teens. "I learned that they depend on one another, and I doubt that any of them will do anything without the others. From what Harry has said, I think that they will have a hard time connecting with those that would have been their parents in this world." Severus decided that he would at least try and help the teens by explaining to their parents why they might have a hard time connecting to them. "For most of them, it seems that they have long accepted the deaths of their parents, making them very aware of the fact that those of you that are living here are not the parents that they already lost and grieved for."

The silence that followed was broken by Xeno, who very rarely spoke at the order meetings. "I suppose we should not try and treat these children as we would have treated our own then. This Luna may not be _my_ Luna, but that does not mean that I cannot try and be there for her in whatever way she needs me to be. I don't care what world we come from."

Severus raised one brow as he looked at the blond man that was sitting further down the table. He had rarely heard the man speak at all, and when he did speak to others he normally spoke of fanciful animals that no one had ever heard of; although, to be fair, Severus did have to admit that most of that had stopped when Luna was killed in this world. It had been a long time since he had seen such a serious expression on the face of Xenophilius Lovegood.

"That might be the best." Minerva was slowly siring some sugar into her cup of tea. "Those children…they need all the family they can get if they have been on their own." She stared down at her tea sadly as she spoke. She had never had any children, but had always wanted to have children to love and care for. Seeing such young children so…hardened…made her heart ache.

"I hope that they will be able to connect with us." Lily whispered as she rested her head on James's shoulder. Sirius sat quietly and nodded along with some of the other adults.

All talk about the teens stopped as the doors to the Great Hall opened. The adults all watched silently as the teens filed in and sat down at the other end of the table. Once they were seated, the teens began to fill their plates with the more bland of the foods that were offered along the table.

Albus smiled at the teens from his seat as he watched them begin to eat. The teens had glanced at Harry before nodding towards the adults and softly greeting them. While not a lot, it was more than they had said the day before. "Good morning to you all as well."

The teens gave small smiles in his direction before turning their attention back to their plates. Madam Pomphrey was watching them eat while fidgeting quietly in her chair until she could take it no longer. "I was wondering, my dears, if you would allow me to give each of you a thorough check up. I think that it is possible that most of you will need some nutrient potions to help with your appetites."

Harry looked up from his plate as Madam Pomphrey spoke. After a few moments he spoke. "I don't see any problems with you checking us over, as long as the others are comfortable. Our version of Professor Snape had us on nutrient potions for quite some time, but we have not had the ingredients to continue to make the potion for almost a year."

"Do you know which potion it was?" Severus asked, interested in the potions from the other world. _I wonder if they are the same potions that we use._

"I still have the recipe for it." Hermione smiled down the table at the Potions Master. "I will copy it for you after we have our checkups. Will it be alright if we all go together?" She directed her last question to Madam Pomphrey who nodded. Those that were watching the teens closely could see a few of them relax when Madam Pomphrey said that they would be able to go together. Severus had been correct that the teens would probably be sticking close together in the near future.

Conversation was stilted around the table as the teens continued to eat their breakfasts. The adults tried not to stare at the teens while they ate and ended up occupying themselves with their teas and coffees while they waited for the teens to finish eating. Once the teens had all pushed their plates away Albus cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention.

"Before I say anything else, I would like to offer my sincere apologies to you Ms. Brown. I am very sorry that my comments yesterday caused you any distress." Albus watched the blond girl with sad blue eyes as he spoke. It was clear from his tone of voice that the Headmaster was sincere in his apology, something they never would have witnessed in their own world. "I must say, that you all have given me much to think about, and I hope that my words never again cause you any distress or pain."

Lavender smiled softly at the Headmaster before looking back at the table. "That's alright Professor. I am sorry for my outburst as well."

"That is perfectly alright, my girl." Albus turned his attention towards Harry as he changed the subject to the one he was most curious about. "I was hoping that you would be willing to tell us the plan that you spoke of yesterday. No one here has any idea of what we should do in regards to a threat from the muggles. I am sad to say that I am at a loss of even how to begin to plan against such a threat." Albus watched as the teens all traded glances before looking at Harry. "We have focused solely on Voldemort and the threat he presented and not long before that, we were focused on Grindelwald."

"That is understandable Professor." Harry's voice was smooth and carried effortlessly across the length of the table. Harry had once again leaned back into the corner of his chair, looking perfectly relaxed and perfectly regal at the same time.

A few of the members of the Order shifted their eyes from the boy at the end of the table to Severus. It was plan to those that were looking closely that the boy had spent a lot of time with the Potions Master, as his face betrayed no emotion or anxiety; his mask was just as impassive as the adult he had spent the most time with. The other teens seemed to have stilled as well as they waited for Harry to speak.

"Our plans depend on a lot of different thing from both our worlds lining up, so we will tell you what our plans were from our world. Obviously, if things here are different in small ways, so there will be some changes. It would probably be helpful if I include a bit of history as well. Will that be acceptable?"

Albus nodded and settled back into his chair. The other adults seemed to be as focused on the teens as he was. Harry cast a quick glance around the table before he spoke again. As Harry began to speak, Albus could not help but listen in astonishment. From the jaws that had dropped around the table, he was not the only one that was astounded by the story.

"In our world, Salazar Slytherin was made to watch as his mother was burned at the stake during one of the Witch Hunts that took place during the Dark Ages. He was only seven years old. His father was away, and so Sabine Slytherin did nothing to stop the flames, afraid that the village would turn on her son if she saved herself. With her death, Salazar and his father, Silas, became extremely paranoid of the muggles. They both felt that the muggles would come for them and the rest of their family if they had a chance."

"How could you know that? Almost nothing is known about the founders." Alice Longbottom asked with wide eyes. Most of the adults, aside from Severus, shared her shocked expression.

"I have his journals." Harry raised one brow as he replied. The adults just stared back at him with dumbfounded expressions. "Once his father died and his siblings moved on, he met three others that had Magic like he did, and they wanted to build a place that they could teach children about their Magic. Salazar offered his ancestral estate to the others as a place to build their school. The Slytherin family had already warded the lands, and the lands were extensive enough that a school would thrive. He helped the other founders to build the castle and create a school for those with Magic, never telling them about the secrets that lay beneath his ancestral lands."

"As time went on, the four founders began to disagree about how to handle the children that had Magic, but were born of muggles. Helga, Godric, and Rowena thought that the muggleborn children and their families should be told about the Magical world when the children were old enough to attend the school. Salazar, however, thought that they should take any child that was born with Magic into the Magical world immediately, especially since the Book of Names that Hogwarts uses to identify children eligible to attend school identify them at their birth. He thought it would be best if Magical children were raised by Magical parents, and he wanted to replace the children they took with non-Magical orphans, never intending for the muggle parents to be without a child."

Harry showed no expression as he watched outrage flash across some of the faces at the other end of the table. He could understand how someone that had never had a reason to fear the muggles would respond that way.

"Salazar wanted a complete separation from the muggle world, but the other founders overruled him. Soon they established the system we used in our world. The muggleborn and their families would be told about the Magical world on the child's eleventh birthday. Soon thereafter, the Statue of Secrecy was established by the Ministry of Magic. Salazar continued to try and change the minds of the other three founders, but their minds were set. It was not until almost ten years later that Salazar went to collect one of his students for their fifth year of studies, only to find her hanging from a tree outside of her village. She had been accused of Witchcraft by her sister, who had not been accepted to Hogwarts."

The teens watched as horror spread across the faces at the other end of the table. It was easy to proclaim something as the right thing to do when you had never been faced with the consequences. The last Witch trials had taken place centuries ago with only sporadic accusations occurring every once and a while since, and none of the more recent accusations resulted in the Witch Hunts that students learned about during History class. At least not in this world. None of those at the other end of the table had lost someone they knew and loved to a Witch hunt.

"With the death of his student, Salazar began to argue his point even more fervently. The others, convinced that they knew best, asked him to leave the castle and not to return. Knowing that his son would keep his students safe, he agreed to leave, only staying long enough to change the enchantments on the sorting hat. No longer would his house accept muggleborn children. His exact words were, 'let the blind fools be the ones that have to bury the bodies of their students when they are found hanging in a tree.' In his son's journal, he says that his father tried to change the mind of those that were a part of the new Ministry of Magic until his death. Two generations later, there were no more Slytherins to hold the position of Head of House and care for their students. Everyone carrying the last name Slytherin had been branded as Dark and as muggle haters. Soon the line disappeared without a trace."

The room was silent as Harry watched the adults process the story. The other teens were also watching while sitting quietly. They were familiar with the story, having heard it many times, but this was the first time they had seen someone else react to the history of the founder that most people thought was a hateful man. Sirius was gaping at them like a fish, while Remus just blinked along with the majority of the other adults. Lucius had a thoughtful look on his face as he rubbed the bridge of his nose with one finger. Albus never moved his eyes away from the green gaze of the black haired boy across from him.

"That is an amazing history, my boy. I must say that I have never heard anything along those lines. Most of what we know about the founders is just what has been passed down by word of mouth. We have never found any journals. I am…confused…however, how is this connected to your plans?" Albus could not help but ask.

"Well, Professor, our plans depend on your world's version of Salazar and Silas being paranoid bastards in this world like they were in ours." The statement was so startling that none of the women at the table bothered to chastise the boy for his language as they would have in other situation. "You see, before he allowed the others to build Hogwarts, this land and the lands surrounding Hogwarts and what became Hogsmeade was all a part of the Slytherin ancestral lands. It still is. It can only be claimed by someone of his blood. Outside of the borders of Hogwarts, at the far end of the borders of his land, was his ancestral home. It was there, before the manor was destroyed by angry Witches and Wizards that Salazar and Silas began to plan for the worst, for the muggles to find out about us again. They, with the help of the Goblin Nation, planed for a safe haven for all Magicals. They built a city."

Harry had to pause as the adults all began to ask questions.

"What do you mean they built a city?" Molly asked loudly.

"Where?"

"Surely it no longer exists. We would have found it by now." Alice was exasperated as she spoke.

"I thought that wards would not keep us safe from the muggles. How will another city help?" Madam Pomphrey asked quietly once everyone else had stopped flinging questions about without allowing anyone to answer. She smiled as the teens all glanced in her direction with slightly softer expressions than they had been wearing a moment before.

"That is just it, Madam Pomphrey." Neville spoke quietly with a small smile. "The city was built by the Goblins. It is completely underground."

Neville's comment caused another round of questions to be flung at the quiet teens. The adults seemed to feel that an underground city would be a horrible solution to any problem. Some of the points that the adults made were that they would have no sunlight; they would be living in caves and have no access to food, what if there was a cave in, and on and on the protestations went.

For the most part, the teens just sat quietly while the adults continued to voice their opinions. Only a few of the adults remained silent; Severus, Lucius, James, Xeno and Albus continued to quietly watch the teens across the table as they sat quietly and listened to each complaint without saying a word or showing any expression that would tell the adults how and what the teens were thinking or feeling. Albus finally spoke up when he realized that the Order members would not quieten down on their own.

"Enough." Though he spoke quietly, his voice carried through out the room, causing the adults to fall silent. "Now, why don't we let them tell us more about this city before we say anything more." Albus looked over at his Potions Master. Severus had sat quietly so far, and had not had one snarky thing to say about the plan that the teens had, making Albus feel like he was missing some important bit of information.

Hermione nodded her thanks to the Headmaster and began to speak after glancing quickly at Harry. "The city is underground, but you would be hard pressed to realize it. The Goblins created it very much like their own city. If you have never seen it, it is absolutely beautiful, and the furthest thing you could get from _caves_. The charm on the ceiling here is a modified version that was used in the city that Slytherin built; even the charm the Goblins use is modified. You see, the celling here, the weather is a mimic of what is happening outside, but the weather never reaches the ground."

As Hermione spoke, the adults all turned their eyes towards the ceiling.

"The charm that Slytherin gave to the Goblins is a more accurate representation of the weather, though they have perpetual dry weather since that is what they thrive in as a species. The original charm that Slytherin created with his father, allowed him to bring the weather into the cavern that the city was built in. The ceiling of the cavern looks like the sky and the weather hits the ground just like it would on the surface. It can rain, snow, storm…you can even get sunburn." Hermione could not help but smirk a little at the looks of shock on the faces across the table. She noticed that one corner of Severus's lip had twitched upwards before his mask was back in place. "The city is meant to mimic the weather outside, but to stay comfortable as well, so not quite as harsh as the normal Scottish winter that we would normally experience. He also had other caverns that attached to the main cavern set up for crops and plant life, which were set up with more temperate weather so that the city would be assured a source of food. There were habitats created for magical creatures, and the Goblins provided him with portals, not only to allow quick travel between the caverns of his city, but also allow him to travel into the Goblin city where he could still conduct business with them."

"I see. You had travelled to Hogwarts so that you could access the city." Albus smiled down the length of the table, a twinkle starting to show in his eyes as he met the green gaze of Harry Potter.

"We did. Salazar left an entrance in the school, just in case his students needed a way to escape if the school was under attack by muggles."

"So you plan to just go live underground?" Alice asked incredulously.

"Yes." The teens answered in unison as they responded to the question.

"You need to understand. Nowhere on Earth will be safe from the muggle technology; they can find us through the strongest wards. On Earth. Below Earth, all they see is stone and they cannot see the wards that are woven directly into the stones that surround the city. They would have no need to even look for a city underground. Even the entrances could be hidden by using our wards deep into the caves that we would use as entrances to the outside world." Hermione spoke quietly, but it was clear that she could not wait to reach the city, she was not bothering to hide her excitement from the adults for the moment.

"We would be safe as a people, and we could survive and even thrive as a community." Tracy Davis spoke quietly, causing some of the adults to jump in shock at the new voice.

"But to live underground, isn't that a bit excessive?" Narcissa had one brow raised as she looked at each of the teens. "How is this supposed to help you thrive?"

"I think it would help if you understood something." Percy spoke only after receiving a nod from Harry. "We are the last Magicals that we know of from our world. That is twenty-five people. Everyone else was dead. We checked the records at the Ministry before it was destroyed and Britain had the largest Magical community in the world at thirty thousand, including the muggleborn. Worldwide there were probably one hundred-maybe one hundred fifteen thousand Magicals. The numbers had been dropping steadily since the records had begun with the first Ministry. Each time the muggles found out about us and hunted us, we lost thousands, but we were safe behind our wards. This time the wards did nothing, and we are twenty-five."

The room was silent when they were faced with the numbers provided by Percy. Marcus continued where Percy left off. "With our traditions, most families only have one child, sometimes two or more, but they are the exception and not the norm. With every two parents producing one child to carry on a name, not only have family lines disappeared, but our numbers diminished without anyone really noticing. This does not even take into account the petty feuds and wars that we would get involved in amongst ourselves. I know my father never worried about the loss of Magical life as he fought for Voldemort, he even went so far as to try and destroy our own line. It seemed that with every record we searched, we only saw a decline of our people and hardly any growth. Sometimes the population would break even for a few decades, but that was rare."

Neville spoke into the silence, his words sounding like a hammer driving nails into their coffins. "Our communities were so isolated, that no one noticed that our people would cease to exist unless something was done. And then the muggles came, and it was too late. Magicals were facing extinction."

Hermione cleared her throat and shifted in her seat a bit. "Before my dad decided to turn me in for being a Witch, I did some research. Muggles seem to try and protect species that are facing extinction. There are some criteria that must be met for the species to be deemed endangered. Those are: That a large percentage of the species vital habitat been degraded or destroyed. This is something that is true for Magicals. We are limited to where we are because we depend on our Wards to keep us safe, and eventually that was not even enough. Has the species been over-consumed by commercial, recreational, scientific or educational uses? This became true when they started to hunt us for their experiments and even for their fun in some cases. Is the species threatened by disease or predation? Not so much because of disease, but we have certainly lost a lot of our population due to predation. That is thanks to the muggles. Do current regulations or legislations inadequately protect the species? Even our own laws protected the muggles from us more than we were protected from them. Are there other manmade factors that threaten the long-term survival of the species? I think that bombs were the biggest thing I could think of to fill that criterion. By their own definition, we as a Magical community are an endangered species. Once we found out about the city, we began to make plans. We wanted to try and make sure that our people were not driven to extinction. Once we read the journals of Salazar and his son, we began to use his plans as our own, to save ourselves."

"If the city was not built in this world, we will ask the Goblins to build us one somewhere else. I have notes about the weather charm and could cast it with no trouble if we have to build a new city, but we do plan to safeguard ourselves as much as possible."

"And…what of the rest of the Magical community in this world? Would not this city belong to us?" Frank asked sharply.

"The city can only be accessed by someone of Salazar's blood and belongs to his heirs. If you wish to claim this city for your own, we will go elsewhere." Neville's words were just as sharp as Frank's, causing the older man to flush and sit back in his chair.

"As to the rest of the Magical community in this world, you still have time. We had none when we began to make our plans. If the Magical Population of this world all retreated into cities, it would be much easier to grow as a people." Hermione spoke softly in the silence that came after the two Longbottoms had spoken. "If there were more than just the one city, they could be connected by the portals that the Goblins use and our different communities could communicate and interact much easier than we do now. There would be no need to hide our Magic, as we would be living in a safe environment."

"That is…well…that is certainly a plan." Albus sat stunned at his end of the table. He understood that this conversation was far from over. He could almost see the teens at the other end of the table vibrating with more plans that they had not shared yet. It was obvious that he had only heard a portion of the plans that the teens were working on, and the plan was obviously much larger than anything he could have dreamed of.

He had been working towards the Greater Good for years, fighting Dark Lords and legislature that he thought could endanger the muggles and the muggleborn students of his school. Yet these teens, these children, were fighting for the survival of a species. For the survival of Magic. It was no surprise that the other teens looked to him as a leader. Suddenly, Albus understood a bit better why Magic had interfered so much in the life of the boy before him. This boy, this powerful boy sitting across the table from him, he Magic's Chosen.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Hello everyone! I am so sorry for the long wait but updates on my stories will be sporadic throughout the summer because of my job. I wont be able to write at work as much as I do during our off seasons. I promise I am still working on them though. On another note, I will tell y'all that someone took my USB drive, which has lead to me redoing my outlines for my stories so that I know what mythos I have created for each story, as well as having to rewrite the chapters that I have already started on.

Thank you everyone for the reviews. I love them all and hope that you continue to enjoy the story. As always, if you have questions, please let me know and I will respond through PM.

I hope that you enjoy the chapter.

Happy Reading

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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

{Parseltongue}

The Great Hall was silent as the adults took in the plan that the teens had told them about. None of them could hide their expressions of shock and amazement that the teens had come up with a plan that would not only allow them to live with their magic without fear from the muggles and what would allow them to live in the open among their own kind. Only Severus was able to keep his composure as he had heard the story the night before; something that he was extremely thankful for because he was well aware that he had the same expression on his face that the others did when he first heard the plan.

"I have a question." The comment from Sirius caused all eyes to turn to the black haired man. Once he was assured he had the teen's attention he continued. "You have already said that you would go through with this plan on your own if necessary, correct?" The teens just nodded as the adults all looked on. "Then this is what confuses me, you said that you would thrive, but you are still only twenty-five people. How exactly do you plan to thrive if you are on your own, or do you just plan to live in comfort until you are old and ready to pass on?"

Some of the teens smiled at the question before tuning their gazes to look at the head of the table at their leader. Harry was looking over at Hermione who was pressing her lips together as she thought about what she wanted to say. Looking around, she finally nodded before starting to speak again.

"We do plan to thrive, but in the since of trying to ensure that our species survives and even grows over time." Even Dumbledore was looking at the teens in confusion now. "Let me explain. For now, my explanation will be based on the notion that it will just be us twenty-five so that it may help you to understand better. As of right now, we are planning on declaring ourselves as a new Nation through the ICW. This is the first part of our plan. Percy has already drafted the request and sent it to the ICW. Even if the Magical world as a whole retreats into underground cities, we will keep our selves separate from the Ministry of Magic here in Britain as none of us would be comfortable living under their rule."

Hermione had to pause in her explanation as the adults had all started to ask questions at the same time again. Hermione just stood silently waiting for the volume to lower a bit as the adults asked questions, questions that were not even directed at her. It looked like the adults all thought that Albus have an answer, but they were not really giving him a chance to speak either. Albus finally spoke when he thought he could be heard over the others. His question caused everyone to go silent and look towards the bushy haired girl again.

"My dear, what was the reasoning used when you decided to create a new nation for yourselves."

It was Neville who answered the Headmaster. "It was my idea, actually. We have been a unit unto ourselves for a long time and none of us wish to live under the yoke of a corrupt Ministry again. It is bad enough that Voldemort is alive in this world, but he probably has followers in key places of power at this time. We are not interested in playing games and trying to weed out his followers nor are we interested in being bound by laws put in place that will ultimately cause our extinction. If our request is denied, we will ask that the Goblins build us a city somewhere far away where we will continue our plans in peace."

"You would leave Britain just to keep away from the Ministry?" Frank Longbottom asked Neville incredulously. Neville just looked at the man that was a copy of the father he had never known and wondered if he would ever find some common ground that they could share and connect over.

"We all would. None of us want to have a Ministry dictate our lives and that of our families when we have children. Percy was able to get a lot of records out of the Archives before the Ministry in our world fell. Those records ended up being used like text books for us since the Professor refused to allow our brains to rot." Some of the teens looked down the table at Severus with what could be considered fond looks by the Slytherins at the table that knew how to read others with masks." One thing that we learned is that the Ministry does not work for the good of the people they represent; they work for the good of the people in office. The Magical communities and governments have allowed that to become the norm, and that is something that none of us want to live with."

"But they are the Ministry; they deserve your loyalty. You cannot live without a government." Frank argued while waving his arms around franticly. Alice had to duck when his hand veered to close to her face.

The adults, including Frank, all stilled when Harry began to speak in his low even voice. He allowed others to speak for the most part and only spoke when it appeared he felt that it was needed. But when he spoke it seemed as though his Magic was actually woven into his voice. That added to the fact that Harry had obviously taken on a lot of mannerisms from the Severus Snape in his world, including speech patterns, caused a few of the adults to shiver.

"It seems that you have failed to understand that your Ministry is not our Ministry and they have done nothing to deserve the loyalty of my people; none of which wish to be subjected to another corrupt government. Our government allowed one of its employees to torture students during our last year. This may not be true of your current government, but even you should be able to admit that Voldemort currently has his hands in your Ministry and there are people in power that abuse their positions. Tell me, why would I allow my people to be exposed to that again when they do not wish to?"

"It is not your choice!" Frank spat out in anger, ignoring the other adults that were trying to get his attention and stop his tirade. They could tell that the teens were becoming angry even through the masks that the teens seemed to be extremely good at maintaining. "What makes you think that you have any right to make decisions for my son or these other children? You are nothing but a child and should listen to those that know better than you do about such things."

Harry's expression was the only one on the teen's side of the table that did not change at all. The others had maintained their masks but were showing minuet expressions in the way they narrowed their eyes, clenched their jaw, or pursed their lips. Each teens ire was directed at Frank Longbottom who remained oblivious to the looks that he was receiving as he berated Harry. The adults just waited to see how they would react as Frank huffed from his seat, finally done ranting.

Slowly, Neville Longbottom stood from his seat and turned towards the adult Longbottoms. He wanted to make sure that they could see him as he set them straight.

"You are not my father." The words were hissed and caused both Longbottoms to pale. Frank flinched when he met the cold gaze of the boy that was his son in another world. "It seems that you also have a small hearing problem. Harry said that _we_ did not wish to live under this Ministry. His exact words were: 'Tell me, why would I allow my people to be exposed to that again when _they_ do not wish to?' They, not I. Harry speaks for us because _we_ wish him to; not because he want to control us. Harry is not like your Minister. He does have our best interest in mind and listens to what _we_ want. He is our leader because _we_ wish it. I will not have you speak to him that way again; if you do, any of you, I will insist that we leave immediately."

"I will agree." Marcus said from his seat across the table, the muscle in his jaw still jumping from the force he was using to grit his teeth. His eyes had specks of gold that were bleeding into the brown indicating that not only was Marcus displeased, but his wolf was as well. Remus shifted in his seat as his own wolf reacted to the scent of an angry Alpha. The fact that the younger boy was still in his seat and had not attacked Frank yet astounded Remus. A person that held an inner Alpha was both rare and near impossible to control when angered, even without changing on a full moon.

The other teens were quick to mutter their agreements as they continued to gaze at the Longbottoms with barely concealed contemptuous glares. Once again the room fell into silence only Albus to clear his throat a few moments later.

"I think I do understand why you would wish to remain autonomous actually. There would be quite a few benefits for you and any that you allow to join you. You said that Mr. Weasley here has already sent off your request to the ICW?" Most of the teens were now looking at the tabletop instead of looking towards the Headmaster. Percy glanced quickly at Harry before he spoke.

"I did. I used one of the school owls to send it. I hope that was alright." While polite, he allowed his mask to drop for a moment to make it abundantly clear that he would have sent it even if there had been an issue with his use of the school owl.

Albus had to force himself not to glare at Frank for causing the teens to shut down on them. _Honestly, what was he thinking?_ Keeping his eyes on Percy and his expression friendly, he nodded his head and smiled. "That is not a problem at all. The ICW will probably call an emergency meeting to consider your request. I will certainly be voicing my approval if that is the direction you feel you need to take to ensure your safety, and I am sure that there has been a lot of thought that has gone into all of your plans. I will ask however, that you, Harry, go with me to the meeting. I know you still have much to explain about your plans since we were interrupted, but I can already tell that the other nations should hear of what you have gone through in your world and the possible threat from the muggles. The fact that you already have what may be a viable plan will hopefully allow others to also prepare for what may be coming."

As Albus spoke, the teens slowly relaxed and looked towards the Headmaster. None of the other adults missed the fact that none of the teens would look at the Longbottoms, both of which were staring towards Neville in the hopes of catching his attention.

"That will be fine." Harry nodded his acceptance. "Just let us know when so that we can be ready to depart." Albus noticed that Neville looked towards Marcus and Adrian from his seat. He did not say anything, but it was obvious that a message had been sent as both boys nodded towards Neville.

"Wonderful. Now, we have gotten a bit off tract. If I am not mistaken, you had explained that you had requested that the ICW declare you an independent Nation and why. You also explained that your explanation would be as though it was just you twenty-five living in a city, be it here or elsewhere. Now, please continue, I am very interested in how you plan to have your community of such a small number to grow, and if your information about the slow population decline for your world holds true in this one, I am sure that the ICW would be interested in hearing a plan that could possibly reverse the damage and allow all Magicals to grow."

Hermione sent the first true smile the teens had shown towards the Headmaster, startling a good number of the adults. Her smile literally seemed to Light up the room. It was the first time they had seen one of the teens be truly expressive aside from the small outburst from Lavender the day before and the larger dressing down that Neville had given Frank a few moments ago.

"Well, our plan is simple really. We plan to have children."

The adults just blinked at the teens as they tried to determine if they were being pranked for some reason.

"Excuse me," Lily leaned forward so that Hermione could see her. She did not want to risk offending the teenager, "I am not sure that I understand. Even if you have children…I think that I am missing something. I just don't see how that would help your new nation grow."

"That is alright Ms. Potter. I think that the piece that you are missing is that I will not just be having children with Harry. I will have at least one child with each of the other boys here. Except for Fred. I drew George and Luna drew Fred. Luna, Lavender, Alecia, Millicent and I are all planning on having at least fourteen children. Angelina and Tracy are planning on thirteen. Padma and Parvati are planning on six and Ginny is planning on five. That is currently the tally anyway. I did not have very much time to make a new chart since we have lost more than a few of our people. My math may not be exact at the moment, but that is the first part of our plan to ensure the survival of Magic. This is also based on the assumption that it would just be us twenty-five which would hopefully be the worst case scenario."

"Fourteen?" Lily was not the only person that was whispering the number, but she was the one that was the loudest. Seeing that she still had Hermione's attention she tried to get the girl to elaborate on this crazy scheme. "Having fourteen children, having the seven children that Molly had or even the two that I had is very dangerous and takes a large toll on the body. I don't see how you would be able to manage to have so many."

"Ah, but when we finally managed to present viable numbers to Sev, he was able to come up with a potion that would strengthen the body during the pregnancy and then one for the mother after the delivery that would heal the body. With the fact that Witches can generally have children up until they are around eighty years old, I am hoping that I can have many more than the fourteen that I have stated. For a while we did have a plan on artificial insemination and surrogacy, but we would not want to use those spells as they had been restricted for a very long time by the Ministry and even the Healers would have had to learn how to cast it safely. I am not sure that any of us will be at that level of Healing proficiency soon. If we could learn those spells, it would allow Ginny, Padma and Parvati to carry more children if they wished. Anyway, fourteen children should be no problem with the potions during and after the pregnancy." Hermione could not tell if the adults were silent because they thought she was crazy or because they were stunned.

"Did you just say that we could have children until we were eighty?" Minerva asked incredulously. When Hermione nodded, Minerva turned her focus to Poppy. "But that can't be right." Everyone could tell it was more a question rather than a statement.

Poppy shifted in her seat as the women in the room all turned their attention on her with a focus that was a bit off putting. "Well, it is technically true. But, the Ministry has long discouraged older women from having children. Having a woman forty or above simply attracted too much attention from the muggles. It is also harder on the body when you are older, so the Ministry issued a mandate about four hundred years ago to discourage older women from having children. Though there are potions for strengthening the body during pregnancy, I have never heard of any that would heal the body after delivery." Poppy turned her attention back towards Hermione in the hopes that she would not have to see the look of slight betrayal from Minerva who she had known wanted a child for many years. Her friend was only sixty-two and could technically still have children, but not without having to deal with the Ministry. As the law set today, Minerva could face time in Azkaban if she were to try for a child.

Hermione continued to explain how they would be able to grow their population slowly over the course of time. "You see. If we are able to have a child with each of the boys, which is our best case scenario, then each of those children will have different genetics that they could then pass down to their children. With those numbers, we would have one hundred thirteen children between us." Hermione paused to allow the adults to let the thought of one hundred children sink in.

"I will round down with each generation for the sake of this explanation and we can then only assume that half of the children will be female but that will vary generation to generation. This plan involves a lot of Arithmancy and muggle Math and Sciences all wrapped up into one project, so forgive me if it is hard to follow. Let's assume that we will have forty-five girls in that second generation that will be willing to have five children of their own with unique genetics. That would give us two hundred and twenty-five children in the third generation. So out of our third generation, let's say that…seventy five of those girls are also willing to have five children. The fourth generation would have three hundred and seventy-five children. Then out of those, if one hundred and twenty choose to have five children then the fifth generation would have six hundred children. It is at that point that the numbers truly start to expand at a phenomenal rate. If only two hundred women of that generation have five there would be one thousand children born to the sixth generation." Hermione smirked as she looked at the dumbfounded expressions on the adults faces. "Of course, that will all depend on the male/female ratio and other factors like I explained before, but it is possible for us to grow, even with our numbers."

"But you would then have to deal with inbreeding and such. You would eventually breed out your very Magic." Lily shrank back in her chair as everyone on her side of the table looked at her like she was crazy. People in the Magical world did not have the same views on intermarrying between families as the muggles did.

"Lily dear, where did you hear such a thing?" Poppy asked gently

"I…I don't know. I guess I just assumed. A lot of the Death Eaters seem to be weaker than us and in school it was some of the purebloods that had trouble with the spells for the most part…with all the inbreeding…I suppose I just assumed it was because there was not enough new blood added to their families. Muggles have been saying that inbreeding can cause all sorts of problems with genetics for a while now. I thought that was why squibs were born."

Poppy was taking a deep breath when Hermione began to speak. "She is both correct and incorrect."

"What do you mean?" Minerva sat forward with a look of interest on her face. Most of the adults aside from the Longbottoms seemed to enjoy hearing the new information that the teens were bringing to light.

"Well, correct me if I am wrong Madam Pomphrey, but it has been observed through the generations that magic seems to correct for genetic deficiencies for the most part." Poppy nodded and smiled at Hermione who turned her attention back to Lily. "Magicals have always had a smaller population and have been prone to intermarrying between families. It has not really caused problems like you would see in muggles. Magic provides a protection of a sort. Of course that does not mean that you would want to have sibling or close cousins marrying and having children, but there is a bit of leeway when dealing with Magic. Our…breeding plan for lack of a better word is very involved and ensures that we keep those that are too closely related from having children. A child from Harry and I would not have a child from Luna and Harry, but possibly from Luna and Marcus. I would be happy to let you see the charts I have, but keep in mind that they will have to be reworked to take into account our recent losses."

"But…I don't understand. I thought that was why squibs were born and why some of the purebloods seemed to be weaker in their Magic."

"That is actually where you were partially correct. Tell me, do you know how muggleborns get their Magic?"

Lily nodded. "Albus explained that a bit when he was talking about how Merlin became a mage. Something about a soul being chosen as worthy and gifted with their Magic."

"Correct. Now, were any of you aware that that gift of Magic actually attaches to our DNA as a gene?" Hermione just received blinks in response to her question.

Poppy looked like she was about to launch herself down the table in order to grill Hermione on her knowledge. Not much was known about their Magic as it related to their physiology and this girl spoke about the subject as though it was common knowledge. Their healers could do many things with Magic, but there were limits when the Healers and Researchers themselves were content to leave things the way they were. After all, if you have gone this long without having to know something, you probably are better off not wasting your time. Poppy was still irritated at the instructor that had told her that while she was still in training.

"How did you figure that out? It must have taken a lot of research to find a spell that would let you look at such a thing. What is DNA and how did you find our Magic on it?"

Hermione's face pinched a bit and the happy expression faded away. She honestly was not looking forward to explaining this to a group of people that only had one person with a muggle education up until the age of eleven. This was completely out of their realm of knowledge. She could only understand it because they had found some muggle books that Severus had them study in the hopes that the teens he was looking after would not be 'hopeless dunderheads.' Hermione had excelled in the sciences.

"It actually was not a spell. The scientists that were looking for ways to take our Magic were the ones that found it. DNA is what makes us who we are. Our DNA carries the traits and genes that we get from our parents; half of our genetics comes from our father and half from our mother. DNA is a long strand that looks like a twisted ladder and records…" Hermione paused as she noticed all the blank looks she was receiving.

"Alright think of your DNA as a long parchment, just like the medical parchment Poppy creates. It is on this parchment that your genetics are written. That parchment decides if your eyes are blue or green, your hair is black or blond, if you are six feet tall or only five feet. This dictates everything about you. The muggles have a way of reading that parchment and seeing everything they need to know about you. One thing they found was what they called the Magic gene. It appears in muggle-born children just as it would any other magical. The scientist found that they were unable to use that gene to take our Magic for themselves though, so while it is wonderful information to have, it was also a large part of why our world became so inhospitable for us."

"Now, this may be a bit too involved so let me know if you get confused." Hermione conjured an odd shiny white chalkboard to float beside her. She smiled at the expressions of awe that came from the teachers in the room when she began to write on the board with a marker. "When Magic gifts a muggle-born with Magic, the Magic is pure and untainted. So, it would be written like this…two capital M's. This represents a muggle-born. It is very likely that all Magical families started with a muggle-born at some point and they have just passed their Magic on to their children."

"Now you know how a Mage is created, correct?" Hermione looked around and saw everyone nodding. "Perfect, then you are aware of Magic taking a direct interest in peoples lives. Well when Magic is offended at that level, it then interferes and increases the Magical potential of the person in question. Now, it is the same even if Magic has not been offended to the point that it involves direct interference like it did with Merlin and Harry. It is possible for Magic to decrease your amount of Magic just as it can increase it when necessary. I am going to use Harry as an example because you already know that Magic has interfered in his life."

"When Voldemort tried to kill Harry as a baby, Magic was offended and interfered, saving Harry. While Magic saved Harry, Magic also imposed a consequence onto Voldemort for his actions. One of those was that Voldemort was left without a body until our first year at Hogwarts. However, if he were to be tested, it is more than likely that his Magic gene, had it been represented with two capital M's beforehand, would be represented with both a capital and lower case M. The capital is called the dominate gene and the lower case is the recessive. This is just an example as Voldemort was never tested and it is very possible that he had already offended Magic or that his family had at some point and passed down the recessive gene. This was just to give you an example of a possible scenario for Magic doing such a thing."

"We have not found out to much about what can cause the regression of the gene, but we do know that a lot of the Wizards that followed Voldemort and had been known to commit crimes against nature or humanity had the recessive gene. Also a lot of their children had the recessive gene, but you have to understand that their recessive genes could have been passed down for quite a while through their families and we have no way to know where it started because we did not know who in the family would test with two positive Magic genes. It is too new of a discovery. We do think that it would take doing something on the level of murdering someone in cold blood to cause a regression of the gene, but other than checking the…health…of the genes every once and a while, there is no real way to know what causes it other than checking. The only reason to know that this happens is that we knew one of our older classmates that had been captured and had been tested to have two dominate gene. He escaped and joined Voldemort. Two years later he was captured by the muggles again and then tested for a recessive gene. It is pretty clear that he at some point offended Magic and was punished. None of us are willing to purposefully try and offend our Magic just to find out what situations would cause the punishment, but we know that it is possible."

The adults all nodded their agreement even though more than half of them were confused at the information. Albus, Lucius, Poppy, Narcissa, Severus, and Lily were hanging on every word that Hermione spoke.

"Now let's assume that two people come from families that have both offended Magic at some point, and both people that we are considering have a dominate and recessive Magic gene. They are going to be married and have children." Hermione drew what looked to be a box with a cross separating the inside of the box into four equal segments on her whiteboard. The lines of the cross on the top and left extended out of the box. At the top she wrote a large M on one side of the line and a small m and on the left hand side going down she wrote the same. "On the top we have the Mother and on the left we have the father. In regards to the Magic gene, there are four possible outcomes for their children. They have a twenty-five percent chance each time they give birth of having a child with two dominate genes." Hermione wrote MM in the first square. "They then have a fifty percent chance of having a child with both a dominate and recessive gene like their own combination." Hermione drew her fingers along the paths to the boxes before writing in the genes. "Now then, they also have a twenty-five percent chance of having a child with two recessive genes. This is what we would call a squib."

Hermione drew a new box with new mother and father representations. "The squib could have children with someone with two dominate genes and the only possible combination for their children would be for a dominate and recessive combination. Each child would be able to do Magic. You don't see that in the Magical communities because the families immediately have their children sent to the muggle world or in some cases killed to avoid their shame."

She quickly drew two more boxes. "Another set of parents, one with both a recessive and dominate gene and a parent with two dominate genes would have a seventy-five percent chance of having a child with both genes dominate and only twenty-five percent chance of producing a child that is a carrier for the recessive gene. The percentages would be the same only in reverse if one parent was a squib or had two recessive genes and the other had one of each dominate and recessive. And of course those are the percentages for each pregnancy. If you were to have one combination, it does not been that you are guaranteed on of the other three for the next pregnancy. It resets and you start over each time with the same percentages possible."

"I do think that it is possible for Magic to change someone's recessive gene back to a dominate one if Magic is especially pleased with someone. The fact that Magic interferes to cause a regression or to increase the power of someone that has been put in danger in extreme circumstances makes me feel that would be the logical conclusion."

"Anyway, back to Lily, you were correct to assume that inbreeding can lead to higher birthrates of squibs, and even a lower power level in the children, but only if the parents are carriers of the recessive genes. Magic seems to take care of the possible defects that you would see in muggles which is why you don't see Magicals with disorders that are genetic. The big issue is that the families that are intermarrying are continuously passing down that one gene and people that are willing to do something that offends Magic tend to only be acceptable by people that share their views. Therefore they intermarry more often. That is one of the reasons why the families you would class as 'Light' have not had as much trouble with the issue as those you would class as 'Dark.' The Light families may be carriers for the gene, but they are more likely to marry muggleborns that do not carry the recessive gene, increasing their odds of breeding the gene out. The Magical communities have encouraged the two factions of Light and Dark to remain separate and even encourages the prejudices between them which ultimately cause the gene pool that is being drawn from to be even more restricted."

"So Dark Magic is bad for you and your Magic. I always thought so and told those that liked to play with Dark Magic that they were just asking for trouble." Frank seemed to smirk towards the end of the table where Severus, Lucius and Narcissa were just staring stoically back at the opinionated man. Narcissa seemed to be made of stone she was sitting so stiffly.

"That is not what I said at all." Hermione said evenly causing Frank to snap his head towards her and glare. "I said that the families you would class as 'Dark' would have more problems. Not that Dark Magic was the problem."

"Well, what is the difference? Dark is evil and that is all there is too it." Alice finally spoke up to back up her husband. While not glaring, it was clear that she had more than a few preconceived notions about Dark Magic and how they were evil. A few of the other adults at the table were nodding their heads as they looked towards Hermione. Though some of them looked like they agreed with Alice and Frank, it was clear by their expressions that they were interested in what Hermione would say. Even Molly, a staunch supporter of the Light in their old world, was looking at her with clear interest in her eyes.

Hermione sighed and looked towards Harry with an expression that the adults could not read. For a few moments they all watched as the two seemed to have a silent conversation just between the two of them. Finally, Hermione smiled and sat down while Harry sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Looking up, he slowly met the gazes of the adults across the table. Catching and holding the gaze of Albus, Harry began to speak in his smooth, even voice. He was able to catch and hold everyone's attention much like Severus held the attention of his students when lecturing.

"There is really no such thing as Dark and Light Magic." The room was completely silent and still despite the comment that was against everything most of them had known all their lives. "There is just Magic. The classifications that you use are based on intent if anything. Those classifications are incorrect in most cases and overly restrictive as the Ministry has a habit of classifying anything that they do not understand or that they do not have the power to control, under the label of 'Dark.' Truly, anything that would cause you or harm outside of defending yourself, would be considered Forbidden Acts under the classification used during Salazar's time. However, it was not the spell that was 'Dark' and that was judged. It was the person and their intent and actions. Over the course of time, the Forbidden Acts of harming another was warped and spells were placed in different classifications and misused by the populous. It was only two hundred years after Salazar left Hogwarts that the Ministry of Magic in Britain created the concept of Light and the Dark."


End file.
